


Nico Hates School (Until He Doesn’t)

by Anxiety_Baker02



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kinda, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, they’re in love but oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 01:49:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17112167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxiety_Baker02/pseuds/Anxiety_Baker02
Summary: Nico is sent to mortal school, and he expects to hate it.  He won’t be able to see any of his friends, especially Will Solace, who’s been at Camp Jupiter for the summer. Once there, he’s sort of adopted by two girls who insist on being his friend, and can’t wait to introduce him to the so-called “Mr. Popular.”Maybe high school won’t be so bad.*crappy Summary, but I’m sure you can guess who Mr. Popular is. It’s way more interesting than it sounds, I hope :)





	1. Chapter 1

“No,” Nico said, marching into the Big House with a flyer clenched in his fist. “No, no, no.”

  
Glancing up from his paperwork, Chiron took one look at the angry demigod and rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

  
“Nico, please be reasonable. It’s just school,” he sighed. “Under the orders of Dionysus, all young demigods are required to go to school for the season. There are so many campers, he simply cannot cope with all of you all year round.”

  
“First off, Camp was supposed to be a safe place for demigods year-round. I don’t have a home! This place is literally my home. Secondly, isn’t that his job? And last,” Nico took a breath.

“Can’t you make an exception? Please. I am not good with people, especially mortals. You know this. In case you haven’t noticed, people don’t like me.”

  
Chiron rubbed his head as though he was getting a migraine.

  
“Living arrangements have been made for those of you without. And yes, it is his job, but I am tired of his temper. A season off would do him good.”

Chiron glanced at the snoring god on the couch quickly, as if to make sure he hadn’t heard.

“And I am sorry, but no, I cannot make an exception. Besides, you’re good with...some people. You spend time with the Seven and Reyna, and Will Solace, don’t you?”

  
Nico rolled his eyes slightly.

“Yeah. I don’t mind the Seven and Reyna because of, well, obviously. And Will... doesn’t really give me a choice. Besides, he wasn’t even here at all this summer.”

The annoyed look on Nico’s face turned into a slight scowl.

  
Chiron sighed again.

“You know Will had to go on that trip. As Head Counselor for the Apollo Cabin, he needed to spend one summer at Camp Jupiter learning about their medical program. I really am sorry, Nico. You’ll be leaving tomorrow. Your new home for the school year has been set up. Give it two weeks. That’s all I’m asking. If you don’t want to stay, I know I can’t make you.”

  
“Seriously?” Nico couldn’t believe that Chiron thought he wouldn’t leave after the two weeks were up. “Why?”

  
“Because I know you’ll leave anyway. But,” he smiled slightly. “Something tells me you’ll enjoy this school.”

  
With a resigned sigh, Nico went off to pack.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 Weeks later

A loud noise knocked Nico out of bed. He was up in a fighting stance before realizing it was just his alarm.

Groaning, he forced himself into the kitchenette to eat breakfast, a habit that had finally stuck after a year of it being drilled into him by Will Solace.

  
Nico was living out of an apartment building a few blocks from his school in the city. He had a suite all to himself, on a private floor, thank the gods. It was a one-room suite, but it had a fully-equipped kitchenette, a huge living room, and two bathrooms.

There was a door connecting to the next suite through the living room, but no one seemed to live there. He moped throughout his whole morning routine, but he managed to make it to school on time.

  
He wove his way through the crowd, and found the main office. Trying to at least look like he wasn’t going to kill everyone there, he pushed open the door. There were a few teachers in there, but he walked over to an older woman sitting at the desk.

  
“Excuse me,” he said.

  
“Hello, dear. How can I help you?”

  
“Um, I’m new here, and they said to come here for my schedule?”

At least, that’s what his itinerary from Chiron said.

  
“Oh, yes. Nicholas di Angelo, was it?” She said pleasantly.

  
“Just Nico, actually.”

  
“Sorry, Nico. I’m Mrs. Wright. Here’s your schedule.”

She hands him a slip of paper.

  
He glanced at it:

  
 _1st period: Physics_  
2nd period: Physics (A days)/Gym (B days)  
3rd period: English  
4th period: Italian  
5th period: Greek  
6th period: Lunch  
7th period: History  
8th period: Calculus  
9th period: Shop

  
All in all, not awful. Chiron could have chosen worse.

  
Just then, the door opened, and a girl about his age stepped in.

  
“And here’s your guide,” Mrs. Wright smiled. “Hello, Allison.”

  
“Hey, Mrs. Wright. They said you wanted to see me?”

  
“Yes, dear. This is Nico,” Nico gave a small wave, and Allison smiled. “He’s new here, and I was going to ask you to be his guide for the next few days, because he has the same schedule as you.”

  
“Of course!”

Nico groaned internally-how was this girl so bubbly? It’s 7:30 in the morning!

  
The first bell rang.

  
“Off you go!” Mrs. Wright shooed them out.

  
As they walked through the halls, Allison smiled.

  
“Hey, I’m Allison Green, but everyone calls me Ali.”

  
Nico hesitated. “I’m Nico. di Angelo.”

  
“Hmmm, I’m guessing you’re not a morning person?” She continued pleasantly.”

  
“No.”

  
“I am. I’m always hyper. It drives everyone crazy, but I can’t help it.” Ali went on, not deterred by his lack of enthusiasm.

  
Nico gave a thin smile. “I have a friend like that.”

  
“Hey! You can talk in more than three words at a time!”

  
“Har har.”

  
“So, where did you go to school before this?”

  
“Um...I was...homeschooled.”

  
“Oh, that’s so cool! Sometimes I wish I was homeschooled. Except, then I wouldn’t have my friends.” She stopped for a moment. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that!”

Nico half-smiled again.  He was almost surprised at himself- he wasn’t supposed to be enjoying it here.

“No, I get it. I go to summer camp, so I do have some friends. But I’m not good with people, so...not many.”

  
“Oh,” She thought for a minute. “Well, now you have a few more. You’re stuck with me now, and by extension, my friends.”

  
“Oh...thanks…?” Nico tried to sound grateful, and if Ali noticed his apathy, she didn’t care.

  
“So, here’s homeroom. Physics.”

  
“...joy,” Nico rolled his eyes.

Ali dragged him over to two people.

  
“Hey, guys!”

  
One girl and one guy jumped up. The girl had the same dark hair as Ali, but where Ali had brown eyes, this girl had blue. Otherwise, they looked exactly the same.

  
“Hey Ali!” The boy said.

“I saw you ten minutes ago, Ali.”

Ali rolled her eyes at the girl.   
“Hang on…one...two…where’s Mr. Popular?”

  
Nico looked on, awkward and lost.

  
“Well, he doesn’t have a phone, but he called me from some landline last night. Apparently, he went on a trip over the summer, and he has to stay another week. He was totally bummed,” The guy answered.

  
“Bummed? He gets out of school for another week!” Ali laughed, then looked at Nico. “Oh, geez, I forgot! I’m sorry! Guys, this is Nico. He’s new here. He’s going to be sticking with us now. Nico, this is my sister, Natalie, and this is and Henry. Apparently, Mr. Popular is lucky enough to be on extended vacation.”

  
“Mr. Popular…?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

  
“Oh, yeah,” Ali laughed again. “He’s the most popular kid in school. He’s also the nicest, so we only ever tease him. We just call him Mr. Popular when he’s not around to stop us.”

  
“So...does he have a real name then?”

  
“Yeah.” She shrugged, but didn’t elaborate.

  
“And...you two are twins?”

  
“Yep! I’m the oldest, though,” Natalie whispered, and Ali swatted at her.

  
The bell rang, saving Nico from any more conversation.

  
The whole day was pretty boring, actually. Other than the usual, ‘hey, it’s a new kid. Jeez, he likes black, he must be depressing and weird,’ nothing really happened. Ali forced him to sit with them at lunch. Despite the slight awkwardness, they were all nice. And Nico was on his best behavior. Another habit drilled into him by Will.

By the time he got ‘home’ to the apartment building, he was emotionally exhausted. He either wanted to sleep, or Iris Message Will.

  
Unfortunately for Nico, the latter won out in his mind.

  
“Hey, Deathboy!” Will’s bright face filled the sink. “You didn’t call the other night.”

  
“Oh, gods, sorry, Sunshine. I fell asleep. For once.”

  
“Yeah, I called, saw you dead on the couch,” Will laughed.

  
“And you didn’t wake me?”

  
“Nope, I figured, ‘hey, he never sleeps, why wake him?’ ”

  
Nico rolls his eyes. “So, how’s your trip going?”

  
“Pretty good!  Everybody in New Rome says hi, by the way. They miss you. Even I have to say, my summer just wasn’t the same without you filling up the infirmary once a day, at least.”

  
“Yeah yeah, well, I didn’t miss you dragging me to the infirmary every time I used my powers.” That was a lie.  
Will only laughed. “Speaking of using your powers, have you been? You look exhausted.”

  
“Gee, thanks,”

  
Will only raised an eyebrow. Nico sighed.

  
“No, I haven’t been using my powers. I just had to go to the most horrible place on earth today.”

  
“Which is…?”

  
“School! Chiron is making all of us go to school!”

  
“Oooh, yeah I heard about that. I figured he’d let you stay, or at least, you’d stay until the harpies got you.”

  
“Real funny. Actually, I did try. Wasn’t pleasant.”

  
Will laughed again. He did that a lot.

“School isn’t all bad. You know, my mom made me start going last year.”

  
“Oh, so that’s why I’ve only seen you once a month for the past year?”

  
“Yes, and the stupid trip to Camp Jupiter,” Will ignored his sarcasm.   
“Speaking of, when are you getting back?”

  
“Sometime this weekend, I think. If I have time, I’m going to stop to see my ma before I have to go to school.”

  
“Tell me again why you don’t just go to school there and live at home?”

  
Will rolls his eyes. “I’ve told you a million times, Deathboy. It’s too dangerous for her.”

“Makes sense.”

  
“How was your first day, then?”

  
“Good, I guess. I mean, I haven’t been to school since I was ten, and my teacher tried to kill me, so my standards aren’t very high.”

  
“Met any new people? Made any friends?” Will teased.

  
“Actually, I was kind of adopted-slash-kidnapped by some girl and her friends.”

Nico tried to stifle a yawn.

  
Will noticed anyway. “Okay, I’m going to let you get some sleep.”

  
“Will, it’s four in the afternoon.”

  
“Well, what kind of doctor would I be if I let my most stubborn patient deprive himself of sleep?”

  
“Just because Apollo is your father doesn’t automatically make you a doctor.”

  
“Shut up, yes it does. But fine, what kind of best friend would I be if I let my best friend deprive himself of sleep?”

  
“You’re such a dork, Solace.”

  
“Eat some food first, will you?”

Will grinned, and Nico couldn’t help but laugh.

  
“You’re annoying.”

  
“Right back at you. Now go!”

  
“Fine,” Nico rolled his eyes. “Normal time next weekend? I promise I won’t fall asleep this time.”

  
“Obviously. See ya, Nico!”

  
And with that, he was gone.

  
Nico’s day considerably better, he did exactly what Will told him-he ate, then went straight to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anything that’s in another language is in italics*  
> I figured Google Translate isn’t that accurate

Nico was quickly figuring out that he hated physics. Even if he didn’t have dyslexia, he would hate it. It was just so boring. Most of his classes actually were. Gym wouldn’t be so bad, and neither would history, if he had to guess.

He had all of his classes with Ali, and most with Natalie and Henry too. Everything except the last two periods. The only two classes he actually enjoyed were Italian and Ancient Greek. Big surprise. They didn’t actually start anything besides review until that Friday.

  
“Come on, Nico! Today we’re actually learning in Languages! Aren’t you the teensiest bit excited?” Ali squealed as she dragged him down the hall.

She didn’t seem to have much respect for his personal space.

  
“No, not really.”

  
“Geez, is there anything that makes you happy?” She teased as they came up to the room.

Will’s face popped into his mind, and Nico quickly pushed that thought away. He shrugged.

  
“I still can’t believe you’re taking the two hardest languages in school. I mean, it’s going to be so difficult to catch up!”

  
Nico smiled dryly.

“I think I can manage. I studied them at...home.”

  
With that, they sat down.

  
“ _Buon giorno, studenti_!” Signora Fallone said brightly.

  
“ _Buon giorno_ ,” They chorused back.

  
“Did you all do the reading last night?”

  
A series of ‘yes’ came from around the room.

  
“ _Molto bene_!” 

“Okay, so, now that we’re all caught up, I’m going to tell you about my summer. See if you can follow along!”

She began speaking in fast Italian. Nico could see the entire class struggling to keep up. He just rolled his eyes and put his head down as she talked about how her dog had puppies.

  
“Nico!” His head snapped up as Signora Fallone called on him.

  
“Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry…”

Nico hadn’t realized the story had ended.

  
She looked at him kindly and repeated her question.

“ _Can you tell us about your summer?”_

  
“ _Oh, sure, uh. I went to summer camp, but none of my friends could make it this year. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Jason, and Piper all went to college in California, where my sister and her boyfriend Frank live. Ummm...my best friend had to go there to study their medicine program, even though he's only sixteen. Then I found out I'm no longer being homeschooled, which was even worse. It's not so bad, right now, but I still would rather be with my friends, so, that's it, I guess,”_ Nico said in Italian. 

  
Signora Fallone, along with the rest of the class, stared at him.

  
“I’m sorry...even I couldn’t keep up with that,” she said slowly. “Signor di Angelo, that was perfect Italian! Where did you learn to speak like that?”

  
“I, uh, I lived in Italy until I was ten,” Nico hesitated.

  
“Well, that’s amazing! Would you say that in English, please?”

  
”Uh, sure.”

Nico repeated himself. 

  
“ _Molto bene, Signor. Molto Bene_!”

She applauded.

“However, would you rather try a more...challenging language? We have Spanish, French, and even Greek!”

  
“I’m already taking Ancient Greek, and I can speak Spanish, Latin, and French pretty fluently as well.”

  
“Latin? That’s quite impressive. In that case, welcome to our class!” She smiled at him one last time, and continued asking the class about their summers.

For the rest of the period, though, he could feel everyone’s eyes on him.

Finally, the bell rang, and he bolted for the door. Unfortunately, Ali kept up with him.

  
“Nico, that was so cool! Why didn’t you tell me?”

  
“...Because I didn’t think it was relevant?”

  
“Okay, well, what else are you hiding?”

  
“I’m actually 86 years old. I was born in the forties.” He deadpanned.

  
“Har har. I’m serious!”

Little did Ali know, so was he. He only shook his head.

  
“Fine. I’m fluent in Ancient Greek, too.”

  
“Okay, whatever you say. I’ll find out in a few minutes anyways.”

  
Nico sighed good-naturedly and let her pull him along. Her personality made him think of a mixture of Hazel and Will. It was exhausting.

  
In class, Nico tried to keep his head down-he didn’t want anymore attention. To be fair, it did work for most of the period.

  
“ _So, Nico, I know you’ll probably be behind, and you probably won’t understand anything that I say. Since you’re new here, I’m going to cut you some slack, but you should really do your best to keep up, alright?_ ” The teacher, Mr. Harbor, said.

  
“ _Actually, sir, I’m fluent in Greek. My father was Greek, and he insisted we learn from a young age. I’ve been speaking it since I was ten_.”

  
Nico looked up from the notebook he was absently doodling in to see everyone staring at him. Again.

  
“...What? What did I say now?”

  
“That was perfect Greek, Mr. di Angelo. In fact, that was Ancient Greek.”

  
Nico groaned and hung his head.

“Whoops.”

  
Mr. Harbor had announced yesterday that he would only be speaking Greek today, just to assess where they were this year. Nico, of course, had forgotten that, and didn’t even notice the switch from English to Greek.

“You said your father taught you?”

  
“Yes sir. It was very important to him that we...honor our Greek heritage.”  
“That was very smart of him then. I’m Greek myself, on my mother’s side. di Angelo is an Italian name, though, isn’t it?”

  
“Yeah, I was born in Italy. We lived there with my mom until I was ten.”

  
“We?”

  
Nico was itching to melt into the shadows. He cringed at the slip.

“My sister and I.”

  
“Wow. So you can speak Italian as well?”  
“Yes, sir.”

  
“That’s impressive, Mr. di Angelo,” He paused for a moment. “You know, I feel as though I’ve heard your name before. How long have you lived here?”

  
“Not very long. Not in the city, at least. I’ve moved around a lot.”

  
“Maybe I knew your mother,” Mr. Harbor looked thoughtful.

  
“I...doubt that.” Nico said automatically.

  
“Oh?”

  
“It’s just that she died before we left Italy. That’s why we moved, actually, and met our father.”

  
“Oh, I’m sorry-”

  
Nico was once again saved by the bell. He quickly packed his bag and escaped all the stares. He darted into the nearest bathroom and slipped into the shadows. He stepped out into his kitchenette at the apartment building. His chest was getting tight.

  
He filled the sink, dragged a stool over, and pulled a drachma from his bag, and after he said a quick prayer to Iris, he threw the drachma in.

  
“Will. Help.” Nico said as soon as the blond noticed the call.

  
“Nico? What’s wrong? Monster? You okay?”

  
“No monster, sorry, it’s just I’m suddenly feeling really overwhelmed about school, this thing happened and I don’t even know why I’m calling, I’m sorry. It’s not that big of a deal, you’re probably busy-”  
“Nico! Hey, easy, wait, don’t hang up. First of all, I’m never too busy to talk to you. Second, breathe. It looks like you’re having an anxiety attack. Just slow down, start over and tell me what happened.”

Will put on his ‘doctor face’ as Nico called it, but he also looked concerned.

  
Nico took a deep breath. “Gods, I’m sorry. Okay, like I said, it’s not a big deal. I just…I’m taking Italian and Greek, directly after each other, right? And you know I’m fluent in both, but no one here knows that, so in Italian, I just automatically started answering the teacher’s question, and she couldn’t even keep up, I guess, so I had to explain a little, about how I was born in Italy and I moved when I was ten. And then after she moved on, everyone kept watching me. It was so weird, you know how I hate attention.”

  
Will patiently nodded for him to keep going.

  
Nico sighed. “And then, in Greek, I wasn’t paying attention, and I didn’t even realize he was speaking Greek, so I automatically answered-in Greek-about how ‘my father taught me’ and how I’ve been speaking it since I was ten.” Nico stopped, because his chest was getting tight again. “Also, apparently, I’m an idiot, because I started saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and he noticed, which made him ask, and I just said ‘my sister and I.’ Then he asked about how di Angelo is an Italian name, and I had to explain that again. He said how maybe he knew my mother because my name sounded familiar, and I just blurted out how she died when I was ten, and that’s why we moved, and met our father. Again, everyone was staring at me, but finally the bell rang, and I ran into the bathroom and shadow-travelled home. Now, everyone is going to think I’m either really weird, crazy, or pathetic,” Nico finished, banging his head against the sink.

  
“Huh...okay, well, I know for a fact that it’s impossible to find you pathetic, and I really doubt you sound crazy, and you’re not weird. I also know for a fact you won’t believe me, but literally everyone will think that you’re cool.” Nico opened his mouth to protest, but Will stopped him. “Think about it. You were born in Italy, you can speak two awesome languages, and you’re hot.”

Will’s eyes widened slightly, as though realizing what he had said, but then he shrugged.

“All of the new campers I’ve showed around have had a crush on you. You’re the new Percy.”

  
Nico shook his head, but gave a small smile.

“Okay, fine, but in Italian, I talked about how I went to summer camp, but none of my friends were there this year, and how I was ‘homeschooled.’ See what I mean?”

  
Will rolled his eyes.

“Nope. Deathboy, I promise it’s fine. But, if you’re really feeling bad, stay home and sleep off that Underworldly magic.”

Will noticed the change in Nico’s face.

“Ha! You didn’t think I heard that, did you? If you decide to go back, though, just eat something.”

  
Nico made a face at Will, who laughed.

“Hey, you’re feeling better! Listen, Nico-”

  
“Hey, Will, you’ve got to get going,” A voice Nico recognized cut in from the side. “The car is-oooh, is that Nico?”

Hazel stepped into the picture.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” She asked immediately, seeing his face.

  
“Hey, Hazel. Nothing, just finding out how annoying school can be. I’m feeling better now, though.” He glanced at Will quickly.

  
“We’ve all been there. School can be awful sometimes.”

  
“Hazel! Where’d you go? You were supposed to get Will.” Another new voice joined.

  
“Sorry, Piper, but Nico’s calling, come say hi!”

  
“Oh! HEY GUYS! NICO’S CALLING! COME SAY HI!” She yelled before stepping into the frame.

Nico smacked his head at the yells that followed.

“Hey, Nico!”

  
“Hi, Piper.”

  
Suddenly, the sink was filled with the faces of the rest of his friends-Reyna, Jason, Frank, Annabeth, Percy, Leo, and even Calypso.

  
“Nico!”

  
“Hey, man.”

  
“What’s up?”

  
Nico ran a hand through his hair. “Hey, guys.”

  
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Jason asked, narrowing his eyes.

  
Nico rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom. I just had a few issues with some of my classes. No big deal.”

He noticed how tightly everyone was squeezing in.

“Maybe this would be easier if I came to you guys real quick.”

  
Will narrowed his eyes. “Not a chance, Deathboy.”

  
“Relax, Sunshine, I was kidding.”

  
“I hate to be the one to break this up, but if you want to see your mom, you’ve got to head out, Will,” Frank said.

  
Will looked back at Nico.

  
“I’m fine, I promise. I’ll even go back to school now. Thanks.”

  
“You sure?”

  
“I swear on the Styx. Now get going.”

Neither noticed the amused way the others were watching them.

  
“Okay then. Remember to eat something first!”

  
“Yeah, yeah. Bye guys!” As he broke the connection, he heard them all yell goodbye.

  
As he hunted down an apple, he realized that he hadn’t stopped smiling.

  
True to his word, he went back to school. By the time he got back, it had only been fifteen minutes. He found Ali and everyone sitting at a lunch table, looking slightly worried.

  
“Nico!” Natalie said, relieved.

  
“Are you okay? You totally disappeared after Greek,” Natalie asks.

  
“Yeah, sorry about that. I just...really don’t like talking about myself, especially in front of a lot of people. Needed to clear my head a bit.”

  
“Completely understandable,” Henry nods.

  
“You feeling better now?” Ali looks at him.

  
“Other than completely embarrassing myself in front of two full classes in a row, yeah.”

  
“Embarrassing yourself? Seriously?”

Natalie made a confused face.

  
“...Yes?”

  
“Dude, how was that embarrassing? That was the coolest thing we’ve seen here since Mr. Popular came!”

  
“You’re joking,” Nico said, taken aback.

  
“No! I swear, all the other girls in the class are in love with you now.” Natalie laughed.

  
“Oh, great.” Nico half-scowled.

  
They just laughed at him.

  
 _Maybe today wasn’t so bad after all,_ he thinks.


	4. Chapter 4

Saturday, he went for a run and noticed that already he was getting out of shape. He doubled his normal route, then went back home and showered. He made a mental note to start going to the gym a few times a week. And maybe lay off the McDonalds, just a little. He spent the whole day doing homework, watched a few movies, and went to bed.

  
As he was sleeping that night, he was woken up by a loud bang. He jumped out of bed, looking for the source, and only when he heard the muffled curses did he realize it was from next door-the suite that is adjoined to his. Great. Someone must be moving in. So much for peace and quiet. He groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his ears.

  
Nico slept until noon, and he went for another run, then straight to the gym. After two hours, he went upstairs, showered, and sat on the couch. He didn’t know what to do with himself-he was bored out of his mind. At Camp, there was always something to do, and he could always go to his cabin to escape people. Here, there was no one to escape, and the one time he actually wanted to be around people, there’s no one to be around.

  
He tried watching another movie. Finally, he gave up and Iris Messaged Hazel. They talked for an hour before she had to go, and then he was on his own again. His stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten all day. He glanced at the clock. 4:45. Getting off the couch, he grabbed his wallet and ran out the door.   
Nico walked to the diner he passed on his morning runs. When he opened the door, a bell jingled.

  
“Welcome to Penny’s! You can sit wherever you like,” An older woman said brightly.

  
Nico nodded and sat at the counter. He picked up a menu, and decided immediately.

  
“Can I get you something to drink?”

  
“Just a water, please.”

  
The woman nodded, and about ten minutes later, he was eating his cheeseburger and fries. Hey, he didn’t have to eat healthy _all_ the time, right?

  
After he had a milkshake, he paid and checked the time. It was six o’clock. He decided to wander around. As he walked, he admired the city. He could still see so clearly the destruction. All the titans, monsters, and demigods rampaging around.

He walked past a spot where he had been pinned by a draconae, and then he found the place where he had seen Will for the first time-a monster had been about to smash Will with a rock, and Nico had destroyed the monster. Before he could even talk to Will, he was sucked back into the fight.

It was another few years until he actually talked to him, when he got back to Camp during the second war. After he walked a bit farther, he found the exact spot where he and Hades had come up from the ground in the Chariot. The crack was gone now, fixed by time. Shaking his head, he realized it was getting dark-he had been walking for two hours, lost in memories. He made it back to the apartment building just as the sun set completely.

  
Just as he climbed into bed, he heard a crash, followed by a loud yell of pain. He had forgotten about his new neighbor. Apparently, his new, clumsy, neighbor. He sighed, once again pulling pillows over his ears.

* * *

 

He was actually relieved when his alarm went off that morning. Not that he was getting to enjoy school, nope, but mainly because it gave him something to do. He could hear his new neighbor banging around. He just rolled his eyes and went about his routine. He got to school early, per Ali’s instructions on Friday.  
As soon as he reached his locker, he was ambushed.

  
“Nico!” Ali squealed.

  
“That’s my name,” he deadpanned.

They were already used to his irritable attitude, and it didn’t bother them one bit, apparently

  
“Guess what?”

  
Nico raised an eyebrow as he finished his coffee he had picked up from Penny’s.

  
“Today is the day! You get to meet Mr. Popular!”

  
“Oh boy!” Nico said sarcastically. Natalie rolled her eyes.

  
“Try to play nice, okay?” Henry looked at him jokingly.

Nico was quickly finding out that they weren’t afraid to tease him-probably because they didn’t know that his father was God of the Underworld. He was also quickly finding out that he actually didn’t mind.

  
“Okay,” Nico took out the book he was reading- it was in Ancient Greek.

He had stolen a few from Camp. He opened it and leaned against his locker.

  
“Also, heads up: no matter how straight you are,” Ali started.

  
Nico held back a snort.

  
“There is a one hundred percent chance you will be in half in love with him as soon as you see how hot he is,” Natalie finished for her.

  
Nico didn’t hide his snort this time.

“Whatever you say, Natalie.”

  
They left him alone for a few minutes before Ali gasped.

“He’s here!”

  
Natalie and Henry rushed off to greet their friend. Ali sighed.

  
“Come _on_ , Nico, at least look at him. You don’t even have to go say hi.”

  
“If I look at him, will you leave me be?”

  
Ali grinned sweetly. “Of course!”

  
“Fine,” Nico looked up from his book, looked at Ali, and then deliberately shifted his gaze to where the other two had rushed off to. His mind only just had time to register a face before he turned back to Ali.

  
“There, are you hap-” He cut himself off, doing a double-take, mind catching up with his eyes.

His mouth dropped open, and he stood there in disbelief. He heard Ali giggle.

  
“See? We told you! Your face just lit up! We were right, you totally love him already.”

Nico barely heard her.

  
“ _That’s_ Mr. Popular?”

He was staring at the guy in disbelief.

  
“Yep. Are you going to say hi, then?”

He could feel her looking at him. He blinked, looked at her, then back at the new guy.

  
“...If you insist.”

He shook his head and slowly walked over. Nico didn’t think he was seeing right.

  
This Mr. Popular had turned his back to them. Ali ran in front and tackled him in a hug.

  
“Hey, Ali! Great to see you!”

The voice took away any doubts Nico had.

  
“Hey! It’s great to see you too! We missed you!”

She saw Nico’s dumbfounded face over the guy’s shoulder and smirked slightly.

“Where are my manners? We have a new kid, and we’ve adopted him. This is-”

  
“Not the first time we’ve met,” Nico said, casually cutting her off.

  
The way the boy’s body tensed up at Nico’s voice was almost comical. He whipped around.

  
Nico grinned at him.

  
“Nico?” Will asked incredulously.

  
“Hey there, Sunshine.”

  
Will burst into a smile, and he crushed Nico in a hug, which Nico returned.

  
“This is your new school?!”

  
“Um...yes?”

  
“Awesome!”

  
Will finally stopped hugging him, but sort of kept a grip on his arm, and they turned to see the other three staring at them.

  
“So...you know Mr. Popular, then?” Natalie asked.

  
Nico’s grin grew, and he stared at Will, who groaned, hanging his head.

  
“You are never going to let me live that down, are you?”

  
“Never. Not in this lifetime.” Will shook his head at Nico, but he was smiling.

  
“Hello? Friends over here. Spill!”

  
“Nico here is my best friend. We go to summer camp together.”

  
“Usually, anyway.”

  
“Okay, first of all, that trip wasn’t my fault. Second of all, I didn’t even want to go!”

  
“Yes, I know, I was kidding,” Nico rolled his eyes.

  
“Wait...your best friend from summer camp…” Henry started.

  
Will nodded. “That’s what I said.”

  
“Oh! He’s the one you told us about!” Ali said loudly.

  
If Nico hadn’t known Will he wouldn’t have noticed the slight way that he stiffened.

  
“Well, he’s my only ‘best friend from summer camp,’ so yes.”

  
Natalie opened her mouth to say something else, but Nico spoke first.

  
“You told your friends about me? I’m flattered, Solace.”

  
Will stuck his tongue out at Nico. “Watch it, di Angelo, or I’ll put you on bedrest again.”

  
“Ha! You can’t do that here.” Nico said victoriously.

  
Will narrowed his eyes. “Watch me.”

  
“No way-”

  
“Are you two done?” Natalie interrupts, amusement on her face.

  
“Fine,” Nico huffed.

  
“For now,” Will agreed.

  
“What’s your schedule, Will?” Henry asked.

  
“Oh, uh…” He pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Henry.

  
“Ah, you have the same schedule as Ali and Nico. Nat and I have Shop and then Calc instead of the other way around.”

  
The bell rang, and then they were all rushing off to physics.

  
By lunch, Nico and Will were into their old routine-that is, bickering every ten seconds, and smiling when the other isn’t looking.

  
As they walked into the lunchroom, Natalie cracked.

  
“Oh my god! Are you two sure you’re actually best friends? Because you fight, like, constantly.”

  
The two demigods looked away from each other.

  
Ali spoke before they could. “Oh, Nat. They’re just arguing like an old married couple.”

  
“Oh, great, you guys too?” Nico rolled his eyes as he sat down.

  
“I guess everybody thinks that,” Will sighed. “So, di Angelo...where’s your lunch?”

  
Ali plopped down across from them. “He never brings lunch,” she said, ignoring Nico’s frantic gestures for her to shut up. “He says he doesn’t eat much.”

  
Nico could feel Will’s narrowed gaze on the side of his head as he stubbornly refused to look at him.

  
“You told me you’ve been eating, you idiot.”

  
Finally, Nico looked at him. “Okay, I have been eating. I eat breakfast and dinner nearly everyday. If I’m hungry, I’ll eat. Don’t go all doctor on me, Solace. You don’t have your degree yet.”

  
Will narrowed his eyes again. “Watch it, Deathboy. Come on, all of our friends told me to tell you to take care of yourself.”

  
“Why didn’t they tell me themselves?”

  
“Because they know I’m the only one who you’ll listen to.”

  
“That’s a long shot.”

  
Nico and Will stared at each other, but Will broke first, breaking into laughter. Nico snorted. The other three looked on in confusion. 

  
“Come on. I would’ve listened to Hazel. Or even Reyna.”

  
“That’s only because Reyna scares you!”

  
“What? No she doesn’t! ...Fine. You have a point.”

  
Will snorted. “I just had to spend a whole summer with her. Do you even know what she puts their medics through? I still have the bruises.”

  
“Yeah, I spent some time there, remember?”

  
“How could I not? Everyone was asking for you.”

  
“I can’t believe I wasn’t allowed to go with you guys. Did I mention, Chiron put me in charge of all the new campers? It was horrible. They kept me so busy, I barely even talked to Hazel.”

  
“You may have mentioned that one or two...or five or six times.”

Nico pulled a face at Will, who in turn stuck his tongue out.

“Hazel sends her love, by the way,” Will added, sliding half of his sandwich to Nico.

  
“Aw, is Hazel your girlfriend?” Ali asked nicely.

  
Nico choked on the water he had just taken a sip of, and Will laughed as he pounded Nico on the back.

“No! No, no, gods, no. She’s my little sister.”

  
“Oh, sorry! That’s cool, though. But if you don’t mind, why does she live in...California, you said?”

  
“Yeah. There was...um...family issues? I guess you could say.”

  
Will snorted.

  
“Shut up, Solace.”

  
“So...is Reyna your girlfriend, then?”

Henry said as he grabbed more of Natalie’s chips.

  
This time it was Will who choked on his drink.

  
“Nope,” Nico said, his turn to pound Will on the back. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

  
“No way. A guy like you must have the ladies lining up,” Henry raised an eyebrow.

  
Nico could feel Will shaking with laughter next to him.

  
“Shut _up_ , Solace,” he repeated. “But nah. No one who would go for a guy like me. People don’t generally like my personality.”

  
At that, Will stopped laughing.

“Hey! Everyone at Camp has had a crush on you at some point, especially after two years ago. I told you, you’re the new Percy. And if you didn’t stare down anyone who tried to talk to you, you’d know that you’re actually the most popular guy there.”

  
Nico scoffed, but he was fighting back a blush. “Whatever you say, Sunshine.”

  
“Well, whatever happens at this camp doesn’t matter. Let me tell you, Nico, if you wanted, you could ask out literally any girl here, and boom, you have a girlfriend.” Natalie stated.

  
“I...don’t really want a girlfriend.”

  
“Hmm?”

  
Nico just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  
“ _Ooooh_ , I get it.”

  
Nico nodded, taking another bite of the sandwich. 

  
“What?” Henry asked.

  
“I, uh, I’m not into girls.”

  
Henry stared blankly.

  
“He’s gay, dumbass.” Natalie poked him.

  
“Oh. Okay, well, in that case, you could ask out any guy here, and boom, you have a boyfriend.”

  
“I doubt that.”

  
“I’m serious! Except maybe Henry. Henry doesn’t want to date anyone.”

  
“Shut up, Ali. Just because I refuse to tell you who it is doesn’t mean I don’t have a crush on anyone.”

  
The sisters laughed.

  
“What about you, Will? Meet any hot guys in California?”

  
Will grinned. “Oh, yeah, tons. I had some fun over the summer.”

  
Nico’s stomach did a funny twist, which he ignored.

  
“Seriously?” He asked.

  
“No, dummy. Now eat your sandwich before I force it down your throat.”

  
“I’d like to see you try.”

But Nico ate more of the sandwich.

  
“Good. Besides, we both know that I could take you in a fight. Remember the time after the last thing at Camp?”

  
“That so does not count. You were trying to make me take my medicine and I was half dead.”

  
“More than half-dead, Nico, you were basically a shadow!” He paused. “That did not help my argument, did it? I’ve got to choose my battles with you.”

  
Nico snorted and shook his head.

  
“Fine, but what about that time right before I left for Jupiter?”

  
“I had been training with Jason, remember? I was tired.”

  
Will huffed. “Then I demand a rematch. I will totally kick your ass.”

  
“Whatever you say, Solace. Whatever you say.”

Nico smiled into his sandwich.

  
The other three began their new favorite activity, just like anyone who’s ever seen the two in the same room: betting on when the two idiots will get their heads out of their asses and stop fighting long enough to realize how much they’re actually flirting.  
  
Nico and Will waved goodbye to the others when they headed for the buses.

  
“So, what are the odds that this is a coincidence?” Will asks as they walk away from the school.

  
Nico looked at him. “About...zero, I’d say. Chiron assigned you this school, right?”

  
Will nods. “Yeah...he probably figured that you’d be more willing to stay if I was there.” He grinned at Nico.

  
“Why would he think that? I mean, my summer was so relaxing without having to look over my shoulder for you every ten seconds,” He made a face at Will.

  
“First of all, you are a dirty rotten liar. All you did was complain about how stressful your summer was without me to help you. Second of all, let me rephrase: He probably thought it would be more bearable with your best friend there to help you.” Will bumped his shoulder against Nico’s.

  
Nico rolled his eyes. “Fine. So, tell me about your summer.”

  
“I already did!”

  
“I mean, actually tell me about your summer. Without mortals around to hear.”

  
So Will did. He started with all of the training he had to go through-medical and physical. He had learned how to incorporate his medical abilities into his fighting. He talked for a long time, before finishing with visiting his mom in Texas.

Then, he made Nico talk about his summer. Nico talked about how when he had finally escaped the young campers, he went to the training arena, and worked with dummies, and Mrs. O’Leary, for hours. He had gotten so into it that when he finally finished, he noticed that there was a huge crowd. Then they all went crazy, and that’s how he was assigned the training of the campers as well.

When he finished, he realized that they had been walking for hours.

  
“I have a question,” Nico looked at Will. “Actually, two.”

  
Will nodded for him to go on.

  
“Where in Zeus’s name are we going, and when did we get to Central Park?”

  
Will stopped short, looked around, and then burst out laughing.

  
“Oh my gods, I have no clue. To either of those questions.”

  
That’s when Nico started laughing with him. He laughed so hard he doubled over.

  
He wiped at his eyes. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

  
“Yeah, me neither,” Will agreed. “As much as it pains me to admit, I missed you, Nico.”

  
“Yeah yeah,” Nico smiled. “I missed you, too, Will. Now where are we actually going?”

  
Will shrugged. “I...have no clue. Home?”

  
“Where is home? Where are you even staying?”

  
“At some apartment building. I didn’t even think about that. I lived there last year.”

  
“That apartment building near that diner, Penny’s? The one like ten blocks from here?”

  
“That’s the one! Are you staying there too?”

  
“Obviously. Hold on,” Something clicked in Nico’s head. “You said you got back Saturday night?”

  
“Yep...why?”

  
“You live on the private floor?”

  
“Yes. Why?”

  
“Because I’m your neighbor, and you are a very loud neighbor.”

  
“Oh. Well, it’s not fun dropping a full suitcase onto your foot.”

  
Nico raised an eyebrow. “And yesterday?”

  
Will flushed. “I woke up and fell out of bed.”

  
“At 9:00 at night?”

  
“I slept all day. Time differences.” He added, at Nico’s look. “I couldn’t catch up at my Ma’s, because I actually wanted to see her.”

  
Nico shook his head at Will.

“Okay then.”

  
They headed back to the apartment building, still chatting. Once they got back, they ate dinner at Will’s, then did their homework. Finally, at ten Nico went back to his room, but they left their adjoining door open.

  
This became their new routine-hang in one suite until they had to go to sleep, and they never shut that door.

Will made sure Nico woke up for school and Nico made sure Will didn’t ruin their food-meaning he made breakfast. And dinner. And anything that wasn’t cereal.

Scratch that- Will had somehow managed to break the plastic milk jug after smacking his face into an open cabinet, slipped in the milk, causing him to drop the bowl he was holding, and fall flat on his back, into the shards of glass from the bowl. His foot had crashed into the cereal box, effectively destroying that, too.

Luckily, it was on a weekend, so Nico could spend an hour laughing at Will while patching him up without worrying about being late for school. It was lucky children of Apollo heal fast, or Will would have had a black eye and a messed up back for a good two weeks.

Nico vowed never to let him forget it.


	5. Chapter 5

School started to pass quickly, and soon it was Thanksgiving break. Henry went off to spend it with his grandparents, and the twins spent it with their late mother’s best friend, Dina; they were orphans, as Nico had just found out. Dina was their legal guardian, but she let them live in their own house, and kept tabs on them. He and Will spent it together; they went to see the parade, and Nico made an elaborate dinner. Will IM’ed his mom, and Nico Hazel, then both of them everybody else in New Rome.

  
After that, the week before Christmas break snuck up on them. That Wednesday, Henry got a call from his mother during lunch, and left to talk to her.

  
“So, what are you two doing for Christmas?” Ali asked.

  
“Watching movies, eating dinner?” Nico looked at Will, who nodded.

  
“Yeah, probably.”

  
“You’re not spending it with family?”

  
Nico had just taken a bite of his sandwich, so Will answered.

“Nah. My mom’s all the way down in Texas, and we have no way to get there. We call her, and we send each other gifts.”

  
“What about you Nico?” Natalie looked at him.

  
“I...don’t really have any family to spend it with,” He thought for a minute. “The closest people I have to family, besides Will, all live in California.”

  
“What about your sister?” Ali asked, looking at him curiously.

  
“She lives in California too, remember? Like Will said, we have no way to get there since I don’t like flying, but honestly, it’s not a big deal.”

‘Don’t like flying’ was an understatement; if he tried flying there was still a slight possibility that Zeus would blast him out of the sky. He didn’t feel like taking that chance.

  
Will nodded. “We really don’t celebrate Christmas anyway. What about you guys?”

  
The twins each looked down. “Well, we were going to spend Christmas with our Aunt Dina, but she decided she’s going on a cruise with her boyfriend, so we’re on our own.”

  
The boys looked at each other.

  
“Do you want to come over?” They said at the same time.

  
“Really?” Natalie asked, at the same time Ali said,  
“We couldn’t possibly-”

  
Nico opened his mouth to answer when a phone slammed down on the table, very nearly cracking.

  
They all startled and looked up to find a very upset Henry.

  
“Henry, what’s wrong?” Natalie looked at him as he sat down heavily.

  
“I’m moving.”

  
“ _What_?” Ali gasped.

  
“Apparently my parents were looking at houses during Thanksgiving so we can be closer to family, and they didn’t tell me until now! I mean, why would they call me during school anyway?”

  
“Oh, Henry. I’m so sorry. When are you leaving?”

  
Henry scowled. “I’m staying the rest of this week, and then leaving over break. I can’t believe this!”

  
“That sucks, man. I’m sorry.”

Will offered him a cookie, which he angrily shoved in his mouth.

  
The next few days consisted of hanging out with Henry after school, and helping him pack up his room. He left that Saturday.

  
Ali and Natalie were upset; they had been friends since middle school. Will and Nico weren’t _sad_ , exactly, but they had still been friends with him. They didn’t really talk about him anymore-it made the twins upset.

  
Christmas Eve was that Tuesday, and they decided that the girls would stay over Tuesday and Wednesday.

  
Nico woke up Tuesday to light streaming into his eyes. He tried to bury himself in the warmth of his comforter, but it was ripped off of him. He blearily sat up.

  
“You can go to Tartarus, Solace,” he grumbled, standing up.

  
“It’s ten o’clock, Nico. The girls will be here in six hours, and you said you wanted to go to the gym,” Will chirped brightly.

  
“I hate you.”

  
“I don’t care. You also have to start cooking for tomorrow.”

  
Nico rolled his eyes, but he changed and they went down to the gym. They stayed there for two hours, then went back to their separate suites and showered.   
Soon, Nico had a system going-he had desserts going in Will’s kitchen- pies, many types of cookies, brownies, and peppermint bark- and he was marinating the roast beef and lamb in his kitchen. He would do the smaller parts tomorrow.  
Meanwhile Will was decorating and cleaning both places. He did the laundry, including all of the sheets (they were letting the girls have their rooms). He kept trying to sneak in and steal some batter, or some chocolate, or cookies.

Nico finally swatted his hand with the wooden spoon as he tried for the fifth time. Will still grabbed a cookie and ran away, cackling.

  
Just after Nico had taken a pie out of the oven, Will hopped up on part of the counter and stole one of the sugar cookies Nico had made before Nico could swat him again.

  
“I was thinking...we should take the girls out to dinner tonight. We didn’t have anything planned, and they said it was what they used to do with their mom before she died, and with Dina.”

  
“I was actually thinking about that. They said that they always dressed up and stuff. We could do that and go to that nice place a few blocks away. We’ll surprise them.”

  
“Exactly!” Will was getting excited now.

“They said they were going to church for their mom, so they’ll be dressed up already.”

  
Nico nodded, then looked at the clock.

“We have an hour to get ready, and you’re covered in pine needles and glitter.”

Will had dragged up a Christmas tree he had found last minute that afternoon, and he spent a long time decorating it while Nico was baking.

  
“Well, you’re covered in flour.”

Will reached out and violently ruffled Nico’s hair, causing a spray of flour to fall out. In retaliation, Nico did the same to Will, which caused a rain of pine needles. Will shook his head at Nico, and Nico was suddenly doused in glitter.

  
“Hey!” He reached into the flour bag and threw a handful at Will.

  
Will yelled indignantly, and soon, it was a full on flour/glitter/pine needle war. It ended only when Nico had Will pinned to the ground and mashed a combination of all three down his shirt.

  
“I give!” Will shouted. “I give! Ugh, that is not comfortable.”

  
Laughing, Nico got off of him, and helped him up.

“Okay, so, we now have fifteen minutes before they get here.”

  
Will looked at the clock and cursed.

“Well, that’s a problem.”

  
They rushed around, sweeping and mopping and spraying and wiping and rinsing. By the time they finished, they had five minutes, just enough to shower again. Nico was quick, and he found his nicest outfit. As soon as he finished getting dressed and fixing up his hair, the buzzer for the door rang.

  
As he buzzed the girls up, he heard Will’s shower stop.

  
He opened the door a minute later, and the twins stopped short.

  
“Oh my god!” Ali squealed.

  
Nico raised an eyebrow.

  
“You look great!”

  
Nico gave a half-smile. “So do you two. Come on in.”

They were each wearing a dress, Ali in a dark red and Nat in a dark green, each covered by a winter dress coat, hats, and gloves.

  
“You live here?”

Natalie was looking around in surprise as they set down their bags.

  
Nico nodded.

  
“Oooh, what’s through there?” She pointed at the open door.

  
“That would be Will’s suite.”

  
“Wait...you each have your own?” Ali gaped.

  
“Yes we do,” Will’s voice startled the three of them.

They whipped around to find him standing in the doorway. Nico stared for a moment, before snapping out of it, and the girls noticed Will staring back too. Nico willed down the blush threatening to creep up on him.

  
“Well, you clean up nice, Solace. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not wearing jeans.”

  
“So do you, Deathboy.” Will cleared his throat, looking away from Nico. “But Nat is stealing one of your cookies.”

Nico’s head snapped around.

  
“Hey!” He complained. “Those are for later. Mostly tomorrow. I spent three hours baking and keeping this idiot away from them!”

  
Nat laughed. “Sorry, Nico. But these are so good!”

  
Ali snatched one. “Mmm! These are delicious!” She said around a mouthful.

  
Nico glared at Will.

“William Solace, if you so much as move a hand towards that dessert, you will lose said hand.”

  
Will laughed. “Okay, you win. Girls, you haven’t even seen half of what he’s made, and he’s not done.”

  
“But you should save your appetites. We’re going to dinner.” Nico stepped in front of his prized cookies.

  
“We are?”

  
“Yep,” Will said, grinning. “We’re taking you to that French place a few blocks away.”

  
“You guys,” Ali pulled them both in for a hug. “Are the best.”

  
“Yeah, yeah. We know. Now we’ve got to go before it gets too dark out.”

  
After a delicious dinner, they headed back to the apartments.

  
They stepped out of the restaurant and something cold hit Nico’s neck.

  
Nat gasped. “It’s snowing!”

  
“Oh, wow!” Will looked up. “On Christmas Eve, too!”

  
The snow started coming down harder, and the girls took off, spinning and laughing giddily.

  
“This is great!” Ali yelled.

  
Nico grinned. He looked over at Will, who was trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue, and he copied him. Soon, they were all running and skipping around.

They took a detour and went to Central Park. It was coming down so fast, soon there was a solid inch and a half on the ground. Nico saw an opportunity, and he scooped up a handful.

  
“Hey, Will!” He called.

  
As soon as Will turned, he was met with a snowball to the face.

  
Spluttering, he wiped it off. “You little-”  
He was cut off another snowball, thrown by Ali this time.

  
“Hey! That’s it-”

  
Natalie threw one, but missed and hit Nico. Soon they were in a full on snowball war, yelling and shrieking and running and laughing. They had each taken shelter behind separate rocks, spaced equally apart, building their stash. Nico peeked out from behind his and thought for a moment. He was quiet; he could sneak over and take them all by surprise.

  
He stealthily walked out with an armful of snowballs, and was ambushed immediately.

  
“Argh!” He slipped into the generous amount of snow onto the ground, and was still being hit by multiple snowballs.

  
“Say it, Nico!” Ali called, stepping closer. Nico realized he had misread the situation- they weren’t each behind their own rock, they were ganging up on him.

  
“Never!” He rolled over, regaining some ground, and started hurling his own in their general direction.

  
“Give up now, Deathboy, and we’ll have mercy.”

Will chucked one directly into his face, and Nico responded by throwing one so hard Will fell over.

  
“No!”

He hit the girls and took off running. He quickly scaled one of the rocks and hopped into the trees above them before they recovered.

  
“Where’d he go?” Nat whispered loudly.

  
“I don’t know….this isn’t good,” Will answered, looking around warily, and the three of them stood back to back, exactly where Nico wanted them.

  
“Ha!” He yelled, and he shook the branch directly above them, hard. A ton of snow fell on them.

They all shrieked and jumped around wildly. Laughing, he jumped down next to them.

  
“I think I win,” He smirked.

  
Will tackled him. They wrestled in the snow until Will had Nico pinned, a hand full of snow held dangerously close to his face. Nico was reminded of some of their Capture the Flag games. You know, if you replaced a handful of snow with a sword.

  
“You wouldn’t dare.”

  
“Don’t test me, di Angelo. Say it.”

  
Nico squirmed. “No!”

  
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

And he shoved the snow directly into Nico’s coat.

“Revenge!” he cried.

  
Nico managed to buck him off, and sat up, shaking out his shirt.

  
The girls were laughing so hard, they were nearly falling down. Once they calmed down, they started to build a snowman. The boys pitched in, and they soon had a large snowman. Ali sacrificed her scarf, Nico gave his hat, Will gave his gloves, and Natalie gave her earmuffs.  
Finally, Nico realized how cold he was.

  
“Hey guys, we’ve been out here for three hours...it’s eight o’clock.”

  
“No wonder I’m so cold. I’m soaked through! And I’m in a dress.”

Ali yelped as Natalie pushed more snow onto her head. “Stop it!” She shoved her sister back playfully.

  
“We should head home. We can start a fire and have hot chocolate.”

  
“Hold on, you have a fireplace?” Ali prepared a snowball. “Because if you’re lying to me, Nico di Angelo, you will get it.”

  
“He’s not lying, I swear,” Will crossed his heart. “Now, who wants to get a taxi? I am not walking ten blocks.”

  
The girls walked ahead, leaving Will and Nico in the dust. They walked after the twins in comfortable silence. Will bumped his shoulder into Nico.

  
“What are you thinking about? You’re making that face.”

  
Nico looked at him. “What face?”

  
“The one you’re making right now, that says you’re thinking about something important.” Will imitated him.

  
“I do not make that face.” Nico rolled his eyes.

  
“You do too, but whatever. What are you thinking about?”

  
Nico stopped, and so did Will. “I’m just thinking that this was the first time in a long time-ever, actually- that I felt like...I dunno, a normal teenager. Ever since I was ten...well, you know.”

  
Will stared at him for a moment, then suddenly crushed him in a hug.

  
“I remember the first time I felt like that last year,” he said into Nico’s hair. “Soon, you start to notice that you feel it a lot more here.”

  
Nico laughed into his shoulder. “I hope so. It’s...nice.”

  
Will pulled back and looked at him. “I swear you will. Even though being a demigod is...amazing, it can get old. Especially after everything you’ve done. Feeling normal, like this, well, sometimes it’s nice to have a break.”

  
Nico nodded. For a moment, they just looked at each other. Then-

  
“Hey, slowpokes! We got a cab!” They turned to find Natalie yelling at them while Ali slid into the taxi. The boys ran to catch up.

  
The cab was warm inside, but they got strange looks from the driver; four soaking wet and frozen teenagers in their dress clothes.

  
Once they arrived at the apartments, it was eight-thirty, and Will started a fire in Nico’s place. As soon as everyone was changed, dry, and each had a cup of hot chocolate, Nico passed around some of his cookies. They settled on the larger couch and started some movies. They watched Elf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the Jim Carrey one). Will continuously compared Nico to the Grinch, and Nico agreed wholeheartedly. At some point, Ali’s head had fallen onto Nico’s shoulder, out cold, and Nat was nearly dozing. Once the movie ended, Natalie stood up and yawned.

  
“I am exhausted. Do you guys mind if I set up my sleeping bag?”

  
“No, you guys get the beds. The couches are pull outs, so Will and I’ll sleep on them.” Nico didn’t move, for fear of waking the girl currently using him as a pillow.

  
“I don’t mind, it’s fine!” She protested.

  
“No way. We already changed the sheets and did the laundry.” Will shook his head. “What kind of hosts would we be? Here, you can have my room.”

He led her to his place while Nico gently carried Ali to his room. After laying her under the covers, he quietly closed the door, and met Will back in the living room.

  
Without speaking, they set up the pull out, and started arranging their presents under the tree. After that, they sat on the small couch and put on another movie.

Around one, Nico fell asleep, and Will shut off the tv, put Nico on the sofa bed, then turned out all the lights. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote Henry out bc for some reason I couldn’t find a way to keep him since he wasn’t quite as relevant to the plot and I was too lazy to delete him completely


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the late time he fell asleep, Nico woke up earliest. As soon as he was up, he made the coffee, turned the tv onto a random channel, got the roast beef in his oven, and he (quietly) put the lamb in Will’s. He then started making up some of the side dishes.

Once that was all set, he started making pancakes. He was just finishing the first batch when Natalie wandered in, still looking half asleep. Without a word, Nico handed her a mug of coffee and sat her at the table with a stack of red and green pancakes. She finally started to actually wake up.

  
“Merry Christmas!” She said, smiling the way people do when they’ve only been awake five minutes.

  
“Merry Christmas, Nat.” Nico flipped a pancake and smiled back at her.

  
“It’s only nine o’clock. How long have you been up?”

  
“About two hours. I have a lot of cooking to do.”

  
Just then, Ali came in. “I smell pancakes.”

  
“Yes, you do. Merry Christmas.” Nico set a stack down on the table, along with hot chocolate, because she didn’t drink coffee. She doesn’t need it.

  
“Merry Christmas!” She kissed his cheek, hugged Natalie, and sat down.

  
Nico continued making the pancakes and working on dinner, but turned on Home Alone.

  
It was about fifteen minutes before Will came in. He eagerly snatched his coffee from Nico and took a sip before grinning.

  
“Merry Christmas, everyone!”

  
“Merry Christmas, Sunshine.” Nico plopped down his pancakes.

  
“And how long have you been up, Death Boy?” Will glanced around at all the food.

  
“Since seven.”

  
“So you ate breakfast already?”

  
Nico’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly.

“...I may have forgotten.”

  
“Then grab some pancakes and sit with us.” Natalie patted the unoccupied seat.

  
“I have way too much to make!” He protested, but he did what she said anyways.

  
Soon, they were all absorbed in the movie, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

  
“Guys,” Ali said when the credits rolled. “I have no more self control. We have to open presents. Now. We have to.”

She batted her eyes at Will, who shrugged and looked at Nico.

  
“Sure, why not.”

  
“Yes!” Natalie cheered, and the two raced over to the tree. Laughing, Will grabbed Nico’s arm and pulled him over.

  
Ali and Nat each handed the boys a gift. He got a cookbook from Ali, and a gift certificate to Penny’s from Natalie. The boys then gave the girls their present, which they opened quickly. Once that was done, the twins exchanged gifts, and so did Nico and Will.

  
“Oh my gods!” Will yelled, and Nico laughed. “Is this actually…”

  
“Yep.”

Will held up the tickets. He had been talking non-stop about some Broadway musical for the past few weeks, so Nico bought two tickets for the day before New Year’s Eve.

  
“Well, now your gift feels small in comparison, but open it,” Will looked at Nico sheepishly.

  
Nico rolled into the wrapping paper and gaped. It was a beautiful sketchbook and a case of new colored pencils.

  
“I know it’s not much,” Will said, rubbing the back on his neck. “But you said you filled up your old one, and your pencils were down to stubs, so.”

  
“No, it’s perfect! Thank you.” Nico grinned at Will, who’s smile lit up his whole face.

  
“I didn’t know you draw, Nico,” Ali peeked over his shoulder at his sketchbook.

  
“Yeah, well, I get these nightmares, and it helps to draw them. It’s almost...theraputic, I guess.” He rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

  
“Cool! Are you any good?”

  
“Not really-”

  
“Shut up, Nico. He’s great! I remember the first time I saw them, I dropped the sketchbook, it was so vivid,” Will cut in.

  
In reality, Nico had been in the infirmary because he had used his ‘underworldly powers too much,’ as Will had put it. He had had a really bad nightmare about Tartarus, and he was sketching it out in his notebook when Will came in to check on him. Nico could remember it very clearly.

  
“ _Nightmare?” That was all Will said as he sat in the chair next to Nico’s bed._  
Nico nodded without looking up and kept drawing. After about ten minutes of comfortable silence-this wasn’t the first time this had happened-Will spoke up.  
“Can I see?” He asked softly.   
At that, Nico did look up. “What?” He closed his book.  
“Your drawings. Can I see? I mean I get if you don’t want to, because privacy and all that. I don’t want to intrude, but I’m just curious. You never tell me what you draw.”  
Hesitantly, Nico handed him the notebook.   
“You won’t like them,” he said as Will took it.   
“I’m sure you draw just fine,” He smiled at Nico as he opened it.   
“That’s not what I meant.” Will frowned at him and looked at the first sketch.   
Immediately, he gasped and dropped the book. It landed with a heavy thud. Will stared at Nico, who stared back emotionlessly. Slowly, Will picked up the notebook, and he looked at it once again. Letting out a shaky breath, he examined it. Without a word, he flipped through the pages. Nico watched silently.   
Finally, Will looked up. “Is that…” he trailed off.  
“Yeah. I told you you wouldn’t like them.”  
“No, it’s just...it’s so vivid. If I can’t handle looking at these pictures, I can’t imagine how you handled being down there on your own.” He met Nico’s eyes.   
Nico looked away. “I got used to being alone.”  
“Well,” Will said, handing him his notebook. He gently grabbed Nico’s hand.  
“You’re not alone anymore.”   
Nico let out a breath. “Thanks, Will.”

  
“Right, Nico?” Nico was jolted back to the present.

  
“What? Sorry.”

  
Will rolled his eyes. “I said you have a lot of cooking to do, Deathboy.”

  
“Yes. Right. I should get started on that. The lamb and roast beef are in the oven, um...the cranberry sauce is in my fridge, all the desserts are in yours. I still have to make some side dishes and appetizers.”

  
“Well, it’s ten-thirty. Were we training today, or are we just going to hang out and watch movies all day?”

  
Nico rolled his eyes. “It’s Christmas, Solace. We’re watching movies all day.”

  
Will grinned. “Yes!”

  
He jumped up and quickly gathered all of the wrapping paper to throw out.

  
Nico laughed. “Slow down, Sunshine. You’re like a puppy.”

  
Will wrinkled his nose at him, and the girls laughed at them.

  
Soon, they were all settled on the couch while Nico cooked. At some point, Will had plopped a santa hat on his head, which he kept on (it was a Christmas miracle!). He finished by three, and finally sat with the others. At four-thirty, the roast beef was ready, soon followed by the lamb. They were eating by five.

  
“Oh my god!” Natalie exclaimed when she took a bite. “Nico, where did you learn to cook like this?”

  
Nico laughed as he looked at them-Will was stuffing his mouth full of food, and Ali was not far behind.

“I think my mom taught me.”

  
Ali looked at him. “You think?”

  
“I don’t really have many memories of before the accident. But when I was about eleven, to when I was about fourteen, I was on my own, so I ate a lot of McDonald’s...let’s just say I learned a lot about cooking for myself.”

The twins were looking at him curiously.

He cleared his throat and said, “It’s a good thing I did too, because Will can’t even pour a bowl of cereal.”

  
“Hey,” Will complained. “That’s not fair.”

  
“Oh really? Do I really need to bring up the great incident of September?”

  
Will opened his mouth to reply, but Nico beat him to it.

“Or November? What about the time you somehow managed to catch the sink on fire...while the tap was running? It was almost like Leo was here!”

  
“Oh, shut up.” Will sulked.

  
“I am so curious right now.” Natalie grinned. Nico opened his mouth, but was hit by a flying green bean.

  
“Don’t. Even. Think about it, Deathboy.”

  
“William Solace, throwing food at the dinner table, and on Christmas, no less. What would your mother say?”

  
“I don’t know, what would Reyna or Jason say about your lack of eating Christmas dinner?” Will smirked.

  
“You wouldn’t dare.”

  
“Oh, I very much would dare, Nicholas di Angelo.”

  
“That’s not even my name!”

  
“I’m confused, aren’t Jason and Reyna your friends?” Ali butted in before anymore food could be thrown.

  
That launched everyone into a discussion about how Reyna and Jason, and basically everyone else had adopted Nico, and then how bad helicopter parents were, and that held them throughout the rest of dinner.

  
“I am absolutely stuffed, Nico. That was awesome.”

  
“Thanks, Ali. But...I made enough for at least ten people. How is it possible that you all ate everything?”

  
The other three laughed at him.

  
They went for a walk, and by the time they got back, they settled in with cookies and yet another Christmas movie. Nico glanced at his watch, then poked Will. 

  
“We’ve got to go call our families. We’ll be back in a bit, okay?” The girls waved them off, entranced with _The Santa Clause._

  
They went into Will’s room, filled the tub, and called Mrs. Solace.

  
“Merry Christmas, Ma!”

  
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Solace!”

  
“Merry Christmas, boys! And Nico, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s Naomi.”

  
Nico smiled. “Sorry, Naomi.”

  
The three of them talked for the next fifteen minutes, but soon, Naomi had to go. Once they cut through the connection, they went back into the living room; they didn’t want to accidentally offend the gods by calling Camp Jupiter to wish a Merry Christmas.

  
Nico sat on the couch, right next to Natalie. 

  
“Hey!” Will whined. “I was going to sit there.”

  
The girls pulled their attention from the movie with a grin. Watching these two bicker was much more entertaining.

  
“Well, you snooze you lose, Solace.”

  
Will scowled. Then he grinned. “Fine. I’ll just go eat your cookies.”

  
Nico narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare.”

  
Will waggled his eyebrows and took off. Nico cursed and chased after him. Nat and Ali laughed as Nico lunged for Will and they crashed to the ground, resulting in a wrestling match. Eventually, both tired, they gave up and squished onto the remaining space on the couch.

And if the girls notice they were closer than need be, well, they only grinned and continued watching the movie. When it ended, Nat sat up and grinned.

  
“Do you know what time it is?”

  
“Um...8:30?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

  
“Nope. It’s time for...truth or dare!”

  
Simultaneously, Nico and Will groaned.

  
“Tell me you’re kidding,” Will said.

  
“Not a chance. Come on, circle up.”

  
Grudgingly, they did as she said.

  
“Okay, Will, you’re first.”

  
Will rolled his eyes. “Fine. Truth.”

  
Ali laughed. “I’ll go easy on you. What was the ‘great incident of September’ that Nico mentioned at dinner?”

  
Will shook his head but smiled, and he told them about breaking the milk jug and all that. They laughed for a solid two minutes while he sulked.

  
“Okay, okay, Nico, you’re up.”

  
“Ugh. This is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done.”

  
“I doubt that, Death Boy.”

  
“Shut up, Will. Um...truth.”

  
Nat thought for a minute. “Favorite Christmas memory.”

  
“Oh gods...well, I haven’t celebrated in years, but if I’m remembering correctly, I was eight, still in Italy, and we opened the presents from my mom. That night, she took us to dinner...I remember she had saved for months to get us all of this,” Nico paused, and found the three of them looking at him intently. He smiled slightly. “Anyway, that night, before bed, she told Bianca and I the story of La Befana, kind of the Italian Santa. Bianca was eleven at the time. It was one of our last Christmases in Italy.”

  
“Wait, Nico, I thought your sister was younger than you?” Natalie asked.

  
“No, that’s Hazel. Bianca was my older sister.”

  
Will looked down when Nico said that.

  
“ ‘Was’ ?” Ali prompted gently.

  
“She died a few months after my mother.”

The girls sucked in a breath.

  
“Was she sick?” Nat asked lightly. Nico took a breath and shook his head.

  
“She was killed.”

He felt Will move closer, barely brushing hands.

“Um...a few months after my mom...passed...we went to this Camp. She went on a trip, and they got lost and went into a bad neighborhood.” He tried to explain as best he could, in mortal terms. “She accidentally stole something; she thought it was a junkyard, apparently it wasn’t. This...guard came out of nowhere, and it escalated, I guess.” Looking at their faces, Nico backtracked. “I’m better now. It took time, but I’ve come to terms with it. And this was supposed to be fun. Let’s get back to that. It’s Christmas, after all.”

  
The girls nodded, and soon, they were deep into the game, sadness behind them. Ali was dared by Natalie to stand on the balcony for a full minute, no coat or anything. Natalie got asked a brutal truth, and so on.

  
“So, Nico…” Ali said with a gleam in her eye. After the balcony incident, they had brought the game down to truth or truth.

  
“Oh no.”

  
“Oh yes. Who was your first crush and story behind it?”

  
Nico groaned and put his head in his hands. After a minute of Ali prodding, he gave in.

  
“It was this guy from camp. Actually he was one of the guys who brought me to camp.” Nico saw Will’s eyes widen.

  
“Oh my gods...Percy?!”

  
Nico sighed again. “Yeah, unfortunately.”

  
“Hey, I’m not judging. Literally everyone in the camp has had a crush on Percy at some point.”

  
“Even you, Will?” Natalie asked, smirking.

  
“Hey, it’s not my turn!” They looked at him. “Okay, fine, yes, but only for a few hours. Now, back to Nico.”

  
“Gee, thanks. Fine. I guess...I just thought he was cool, I don’t know, but it was hard because he had been on that trip with Bianca so I kind of blamed him for awhile. He had a girlfriend, and they’re madly in love. It took awhile, but about two years ago, I finally got over him, and found someone better.” He winced and mentally slapped himself for that last part.

  
“Oooh, who?” Natalie asked.

  
“Nope. I answered the question. Not my turn anymore.” Nat rolled her eyes and turned to Will, who was staring at Nico oddly.

  
“You get the same question.”

  
“Oh gods. Well, technically my first crush was Percy, but like I said, it was only a few hours. Does that count?”

  
“No way!”

  
“Damn. Alright, well, my crush on Percy was short-lived for two reasons- one, I saw him with his girlfriend, before she was his girlfriend, and they were inseparable, and two, I met the guy I’ve had a crush on for the past six years or so.”

  
Nico felt a twinge in his gut that he ignored.

  
“Most of the camp had taken a trip to the city, and I don’t know if you remember the huge shut down that happened a few years back?”

  
The girls nodded.

  
“That happened to be the day we were there, and we got stuck in the chaos. It was pretty dangerous, I guess, and I was helping some people who had gotten hurt, but something happened, and this guy saved my life. I didn’t even get to thank him because he got pulled away really quickly, but two years ago I finally got to talk to him and he turned out to be a stubborn idiot, set on sacrificing himself for others. He’s awesome, and I wish he saw how cool he was. There is no way he likes me back, though, so I haven’t told him.”

  
The twinge in Nico’s gut was getting harder to ignore, yet he managed.

They moved on, and it turned out Natalie had had a pretty big crush on Henry. Soon, it was Nico’s turn again.

  
“So, Nico...who’s the guy you’re currently crushing on?”

  
Nico rolled his eyes to the ceiling. _Gods help me._

  
He flushed slightly. “If I absolutely have to, I’ll describe him, but I won’t tell you his name because Will is going to make fun of me.”

  
Will started to protest, but the girls shushed him.

“Fine. Go ahead.”

  
Nico took a deep breath and looked at the floor.

“He’s awesome. It’s been two years now, and he’s amazing. I told you about how I had a rough time after Bianca, and he was really the main reason I stopped wishing it was me instead of her.”

Nico paused, looking around. He hesitated slightly when his gaze landed on Will, but he quickly looked away.

  
“He pulled me out of this dark place and helped me move on, I guess. He’s also saved my life on more than one occasion. He’s so nice, unbearably annoying, and this adorable dork, and here I am, always cranky and rude. Yet he puts up with me, and I’m hopelessly crushing on him.” He turned bright red, his words catching up with him.

  
The girls awwwed. Will squinted at Nico.

  
“Is it Jason?”

  
Nico choked on air. “No! _Di immortales_ , no.”

  
Will held up his hands. “I just thought maybe...you guys are just close, that’s all.”

  
“Oh gods, yeah, no. He’s like my brother.”

  
“Oh...what about-”

  
“Give it up, Solace. I am not telling. It’s not my turn, anyway.”

  
The girls exchanged a look that clearly said ‘ _These poor idiots. They can’t stop their own pining long enough to see how badly the other is pining for them._ ’

  
Neither of the boys saw said look, and they continued with game game for awhile, before Nico eventually fell asleep on Will’s shoulder.

Knowing he had been awake longer than anyone, the three of them turned on some TV show and relaxed, eating cookies.

Will had gently replaced his shoulder with an actual pillow for Nico and sat himself on the couch.

  
About half an hour later, Will noticed a sharp, sudden decrease in the room temperature. He had just enough time think _oh crap_ , before Ali spoke up.

  
“Oh my god, how did it get so cold?”

  
“We get this stupid draft. It’s because of the windows, I think. Something about positioning,” Will said immediately.

The girls seemed to believe his lame lie.

This was not going to be pretty. He’d been around Nico long enough to recognize the signs of a nightmare.

  
“Oh, crap.” He said it out loud this time.

  
“What’s wrong?” Natalie sat up.

  
“Nico’s having a nightmare.”

  
“How can you tell?” Ali asked.

  
Will only nodded his head towards the sleeping boy, and right on cue, Nico’s breathing became short and choppy. A moment later, he also began to shift around.

  
“Just wake him up,” Nat said, like it was that simple. To be fair, she had no clue what his nightmares were like.

  
Will shook his head. “We can’t. You’ll see in a bit. It’s upsetting to watch, but when he gets like this, he doesn’t wake up until it’s over. Hopefully it won’t be too bad.”

  
As soon as the words left his mouth, Nico began to thrash around. Will sighed.

  
“Nevermind.”

  
Will itched to help the other demigod. But he knew from experience that all it would get him was a black eye. Especially if it was a Tartarus dream.

Nico’s breathing slowed, along with the thrashing, and the girls obviously thought it was over. But it was just the beginning. His breath continued to slow until it was almost nothing, and Will saw the girls begin to panic.

  
“Is he still breathing?” Ali worried.

  
“He’s fine,” Will said softly. “This is what happens. It’s a bad one tonight.”

  
After a minute, Nico bolted up with a loud gasp of air, then fell back down, shifting around again. Will knew from Nico’s stories that he must have been dreaming of when he was freed from the jar. His practiced eye could see the shadows swirling around Nico, but the twins didn’t notice.

  
He began to call out names, starting with Bianca. He yelled for her not to go, to come back, then called for his mother, then Hazel, and then Will could practically see the dream change.

  
Nico’s sad demeanor changed back into a panic, and he yelled out Will’s name once, then just repeated no, over and over. The room got even colder.

  
Will looked on, pained because he couldn’t help him, and slightly surprised. Nico didn’t usually call out for him.

  
“Will?” Ali asked shakily.

  
He shook his head sadly. “He’s fine. It’s almost over.”

  
One long moment later, Nico finally tore out of the nightmare and leapt up, glancing around wildly, hand uselessly grasping for his sword. His eyes fell on the other three, and he sighed dejectedly.

Immediately, Will was up. Without saying anything, Nico stalked into the kitchen, braced his arms on the counter over the sink, and retched up bile.

  
Will followed him. He didn’t speak, just got him a glass of water. Will handed it to Nico and Nico nodded his thanks. Will knew better than to try to touch him without his permission.

After a nightmare like that, Nico either wanted to be left alone, or he craved comfort. One of the first times Will had been there, he had tried to help out, and he ended up on the ground with a sprained wrist and a very guilty Nico.

So they stood there in an understanding silence for a few minutes, neither moving. Will pretended not to notice the few tears Nico shed, and Nico was grateful.

When he finished the water, and had mostly stopped shaking, he simply turned and wrapped his arms around the taller boy. Immediately, Will held him, gently rubbing his back while Nico breathed into his shoulder. They stood like that for awhile, just holding each other.

  
“ _You were back there_.” Will stated in Greek. It wasn’t a question.

  
Nico nods. Then he sighs. “ _Well, first it was a standard nightmare. Then Tartarus. Then Bianca, and Hazel, and...and then_ …” He trailed off and was silent for a minute. “ _Just...don’t you ever die on me, alright, Solace?_ ”

  
Will held him tighter. “ _I don’t plan on it, Nico.”_

  
After another minute or two, they separated, and Nico seemed to remember the girls. He winced, but walked back to them.

  
“So, I’m really sorry you had to see that. Especially on Christmas.”

  
“Don’t you dare apologize for something you have no control over.” Natalie said strictly.

  
Nico looked taken aback for a moment, but then he gave a miniscule smile.

“Thanks, I think.” He saw the worry in their faces. If they noticed the temperature returning to normal, they didn’t comment on it. 

  
“I swear, I’m fine. I’ve just had some really crappy things happen in my life, and I guess I have a sort of PTSD from it. I don’t usually get them that bad.”

  
The girls nodded, and they each hugged him.

  
After a few beats of awkward silence, they managed to get back to normal. Will and Nico sat closely, they watched some more TV, and the girls dropped off to sleep.

Nico got out his new sketchpad, but he couldn’t bring himself to draw the nightmare. Instead, he began to draw something he never had before.

Eventually, even Will fell asleep, but Nico couldn’t. He drew picture after picture until morning came. Even then, he didn’t finish until just before Will woke up.   
He put the pad down and made coffee. Just as he sat back down, Will woke up.

  
“Did you get back to sleep?”

  
“Nope.”

  
“Did you draw?”

  
“Yeah.” Nico hesitated, and Will noticed.

  
“What’s up?”

  
“Nothing. I just...I drew something new.”

  
Will raised an eyebrow. “What did you draw then?”

  
Nico silently handed him the sketchbook. Will opened it and drew a sharp breath.

  
“Is that…?”

  
“Yeah. It’s my mom.”

  
Will looked up at Nico and smiled lightly.

“That’s great, Nico. This is amazing.”

  
Nico flushed a bit. “If you want to keep going, I drew everyone else, too.”  
Will flipped through.

He found pictures of Bianca, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, Jason, Cecil, Lou Ellen, Reyna, Ali, Natalie, and finally, one of himself.

  
“These are amazing, Nico. I think I like them better than the others, no offense,” Will scrunched his nose at Nico, who cracked a smile.

  
“Yeah,” he replied. “Me too.”


	7. Chapter 7

A few weeks later, school was back in full swing. At first, it was a little odd adjusting without Henry, but they managed. The weeks flew by, and it was nearly time for spring break.

  
The Sunday before the last week approaching spring break, however, shattered the idea of normal teenage life that they had grown accustomed to.   
Now that the weather was warming up again, the two of them had gone out for their normal morning run. It was early, the sun just glancing the horizon as they reached Central Park for a break. Nico was taking a sip from his water bottle when he heard the sniffing, and then a growl. Looking at Will, he knew that he had heard the same thing.

  
Nico reached for his sword; it hardly ever left his side, and the Mist disguised it. Will went for his as well. Bracing themselves, they stood back to back, waiting.

  
It wasn’t long before they saw it. A large cyclops clambering over the rocks.

  
“I smell breakfast!” It yelled. “Fresh demigods!”

  
“Ugh. It’s too early for this,” Nico complained.

“Agreed. Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Will sighed as another joined the first cyclops. “Two? Really?”

  
That was when the cyclops’ spotted them.

  
“I told you, honey! Demigods!”

  
The second cyclops licked its lips. This one was female. The two of them started towards the boys.

  
“Yum! I haven’t had demigod in months!”

  
“Wait! You don’t want to eat us,” Will started.

  
They stopped for a moment, confused.

“Why not?” The male asked.

  
“Well...I was really hoping you wouldn’t ask that.”

  
Nico rolled his eyes. “Because we’re vegetarians!” He yelled. “We’re too...gamey.”

  
The cyclops’ looked at each other.

“We don’t care,” they said together, and began advancing again.

  
“Dammit.” Nico cursed under his breath. He looked at Will. “Ready?”

  
“Always.”

  
They charged.

  
Will stabbed at the male’s foot, causing it to reel backwards in pain.

“Ouch!”

  
The female fell back slightly when she saw Nico’s sword-monsters generally didn’t like Stygian iron.

It didn’t put her off for long, though. Apparently, she was very hungry. She swung at Nico with a rock, sending him flying into a tree. Dazed only for a moment, he jumped up almost at once.

He saw Will get whacked with a sapling that the male had pulled out of the ground to use as a weapon. He was distracted by the female and her rock weapon quickly, however. He continued jabbing at her, but she was pretty determined to get her breakfast.

She crushed the rock and began firing the remnants at Nico. He could feel his skin getting cut up. He ran up one of the boulders, made sure she turned to follow him, before catapulting over her head. He hit the ground rolling and sprang up.

  
“That all you got?” Nico taunted.

  
“Shut up, breakfast!” She yelled.

  
And that’s how Nico found himself cornered against a rock next to Will.

  
“How ya doing?” Will turned his head to his best friend.

  
“I’m doing great, you?”

  
“Not bad. You got a plan?”

  
“Of course.” Nico latched onto Will’s arm and dragged him back into the shadows of the rock.

  
They appeared behind the monsters, who yelled in surprise.

  
“I hate shadow-travel, Deathboy.”

  
“Yes, I know, but it’s better than getting eaten, right?”

  
Will muttered an agreement.

  
“Stop playing around, breakfast!” The male bellowed.

  
“You got it,” Nico smirked dangerously, and then he snapped his fingers.

  
Four skeletons climbed out of the ground, and distracted the monsters long enough for Nico and Will to split up again. All but one of the skeletons were crushed by the cyclops’.

  
Nico was knocked to the ground again, smashing his cheek into a rock. As he got up, he saw Will nod at him. He managed to cover his ears just in time; Will had let out a shrill whistle that caused the blundering idiots to stumble around, hitting their ears.

The male ran close to Nico, who finally managed to get a good stab in.

He dissolved.

The female screamed in rage and charged at Nico. Will came up from behind, however, and Nico could see the blade go straight through her torso.

She disintegrated.

  
Will limped over to Nico, who banished the remaining skeleton. They didn’t even look at each other as Will grabbed his arm and Nico shadow-travelled them back to the apartment.

  
They slumped against the counter tiredly, closing their eyes.

  
“This was going to be such a nice day,” Will shook his head.

  
“Yeah, well, we were due for a monster attack. I haven’t seen one in… a year, almost.”

  
Will made a noise in his throat that could have been agreement or annoyance.

  
“Alright, let’s get cleaned up. How bad are you?”

  
“Mmm, not bad. Few scrapes and bruises,” Nico muttered, nearly falling asleep. He shook himself. “What about you?”

  
“Not bad. Same as you, but add a twisted ankle. Drink,” Will added, dropping a gatorade in front of Nico.

  
“Thanks.” Nico drank half of it in one gulp, and felt slightly better. He opened his eyes, at least. “Will, you liar!”

  
Will’s face was covered in cuts, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. He was leaning heavily on the counter, not putting any weight on his left ankle.

  
“I bet you broke at least one of your ribs, too, dummy. You were hit with a tree!”

  
“It was only a sapling,” Will protested.

  
“Whatever it was, you need to sit down.”

  
Sighing, Will did as Nico told him.

“I thought I was the son of Apollo.”

  
“Shut up, Solace. Your ankle is probably sprained, too.”

  
Will rolled his eyes, but he gave a tired smile as Nico went for the first aid kit.

  
“Fine. But you have to let me take care of you too. I’m willing to bet that you’ve got a mild concussion, and bruised ribs at least. You were hit repeatedly with a large rock, you idiot.”

  
“Okay, okay.”

  
They cleaned each other up; Nico needed a few stitches in three different places, as did Will. Both had a broken rib, and Will’s ankle was sprained. Nico did have a mild concussion, but otherwise, they were alright. They would be very sore for a few days, Nico more so than the son of Apollo. They each had an ambrosia square.

  
Instead of going to the gym as they had planned, they sat and did nothing for the whole day. After they ate lunch, Nico fell asleep. Will woke him up long enough to eat an ambrosia square, then they both went to sleep at six o’clock.

* * *

 

“Rise and shine, Deathboy!”

  
Nico groaned as bright light hit his eyes.

  
“No.”

  
“Come on, Nico. I let you sleep in already.”

  
“No.”

  
“Fine. I guess I have to make breakfast then.”

  
“NO!” Nico cried as he leapt out of bed.

He got tangled in the sheets, however, and face planted.

  
Groaning in pain, he glared at Will as the latter laughed his ass off.

  
“I hate you.”

  
“No you don’t.”

  
Nico narrowed his eyes from the floor.  
“Wanna bet?”

  
Will’s eyes widened.

“Crap.”

With that, he turned on his heel and ran out of the room.

  
“Get back here, you little shit!”

Nico took off after him.

  
Will tripped on the carpet, though, due to his injuries, and Nico still took that as a victory. He got dressed for school, then made toaster waffles for their breakfast.

Last time Will was near a toaster, well, let’s just say they needed a new toaster.

  
“I hate Mondays,” Nico grumbled as they walked to school.

  
“Yes, I know. Along with every other day of the week.”

  
Nico glared at Will, who only laughed.

“Relax, di Angelo. As soon as the bell rings on Friday, we’re on break.”

  
As they reached their lockers, they were attacked by two very excited girls.

  
“You don’t have any plans for break, right?” Ali bounced excitedly.

  
“Um...no?” Nico looked at Will, who shrugged.

  
“You do now!”

  
“Wait, slow down. What’s happening over break?”

  
“We’re going camping in Pennsylvania!”

  
“We are?”

  
“Yes we are. No arguing. We leave Friday. We’re taking Aunt Dina’s RV.”

  
The boys looked at each other.

  
“Okay,” Will said slowly. “I guess we’re going camping.”

  
“Wait,” Nat said, frowning. “What the hell happened to you two?”

  
“We went out for our run yesterday and two idiots jumped us,” Nico recited automatically. 

  
“Oh my god! Are you guys okay?”

  
“We’re fine. You should see the other guys.”

  
Nico couldn’t keep in his snort.

  
Until Greek, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful, besides everyone commenting on their injuries.

  
Just as the bell rang, Mr. Harbor called out to the two boys.

  
“Yes, sir?” Nico asked hesitantly.

  
He stared at them for a moment, then he cleared his throat. “What happened?”

  
“Oh, uh...we were jumped yesterday morning. We’re fine, though.” Will supplied quickly.

  
“Well, thank goodness for that. But I’d like to see you both after school, if you don’t mind.”

  
“Oh, um...alright. Are we in trouble?” Will asked.

  
“Not at all. I just think that there’s some things we need to discuss.”

  
“Alright, then.”

  
The boys made their way out of the classroom and down to lunch.

  
“What in Hades’ name do you think’s going on?” Nico whispered to Will.

  
“I have no clue. Maybe he thinks we got into a fight, or something?” Will gestured to their faces.

  
“Maybe...but he’s been staring at us weird ever since Christmas break. I have a bad feeling.”

  
“You have your sword, right?”

  
“Obviously.”

  
“Then I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

  
They reached their table and sat.

  
“What was that about?” Ali frowned.

  
“Don’t know. He wants to see us after school, though.” Nico took a bite of the sandwich Will handed him.

  
“That’s odd. Harbor never asks anyone to stay after school.”

  
“Oh, great,” Will mumbles.

  
“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Natalie’s eyes betrayed her words.

  
Nico sighed.

  
Before they knew it, the last bell was ringing and they were walking to the Greek classroom. They stood uneasily in the doorway, swords in their backpacks.

  
“Ah, good. Have a seat, boys.”

  
The two demigods hesitantly did as he said.

  
“Excuse me, sir, but why are we here?”

  
“I’m curious about your injuries.”

  
“We told you, we were jumped yesterday.”

  
“Yes, that is what you told me.” Mr. Harbor looked somewhat uneasy.

“Er...how is it you two boys know ancient Greek?”

  
“Our fathers taught us…?” Will said nervously.

Nico was bouncing his leg, and he could see Will twisting his hands together in his lap. Having ADHD was annoying in moments like these. 

  
“Ah. I got it from my mother.”

  
The boys looked at each other.

“Okay…” Nico said.

  
“What do you boys do over the summer?”

  
“I’m sorry, what does any of this have to do with anything?” Will burst out.

  
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I really don’t know where to begin. Um...Nico, do you remember how in the beginning of the year, I thought I recognized your name?”

  
Nico nodded slowly.

  
“Since then, it’s bothered me that I couldn’t remember where I knew you from. Then, over Christmas break, I went on a trip, and it hit me. I wasn’t completely sure, but when you two showed up today like this...and you’ve just confirmed my theory.”

  
“What? How? What are you talking about?”

Nico was itching to reach for his sword.

  
Harbor took a deep breath. “Since you’ve entered this classroom, we haven’t spoken one word of English, and neither of you noticed.”

  
Nico and Will jumped. He was right- they had been speaking ancient Greek the whole time.

  
“What are you playing at?” Nico snarled in English, jumping up. Will was right next to him.

  
“Please calm down. I’m not very good at subtleness, I’m afraid.” Harbor pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright, well, I went to this camp when I was younger, and I was thinking maybe you two went there as well. I’ve had my suspicions about Will since last year, and Nico, I’ve heard the stories.”

  
“Enough games. Who are you?” Will snapped.

  
“I’m like you boys.”

  
It finally clicked.

“You mean...” Will started.

“Your mother…?” Nico added  

  
Harbor looked relieved. “Yes! Yes. Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Thank the gods. I was starting to think I was crazy. Nico di Angelo, Son of Hades, and Will Solace, Son of Apollo.”

  
“And...you’ve known since Christmas?”

  
He nodded. “Well, mostly. I went to speak with Chiron about some monster issue I had, and while I was in the Big House I caught a glimpse of some pictures. I didn’t see them for very long, but long enough that I sort of recognized you two. As I said, I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t positive until now.”

  
“Oh,” Nico said intelligently.

  
Mr. Harbor settled on the edge of his desk. “So, are you going to tell me what actually happened?”

  
The boys sat back down.

“We were running in Central Park yesterday morning, and two cyclops’ found us,” Will explained.

  
“I’ve seen a couple of those in my day. How bad was it?”

  
“Not horrible,” Nico supplied. “Will got beaten up with a tree, though.”

  
“Hey! You got smashed with a rock!”

  
Mr. Harbor chuckled. “I meant injuries, boys.”

  
“Oh, sorry. Um...each have a broken rib, Nico’s got a concussion, I sprained my ankle, and we both needed a few stitches. Not too bad, I guess.”

  
“Well, if you ever need help, you can come to me. My wife and I would be glad to help.”

  
“Your wife?”

  
Mr. Harbor smiled. “Yes. Alice. She’s a daughter of Hermes.”

  
“Oh. Well, thank you, Mr. Harbor.”

  
“Any time.” He wrote out his information and sent the boys on their way.

  
“Did...did that actually happen or is my concussion worse than I thought?” Nico asked as they walked out of school.

  
“No...our teacher’s a demigod.”

  
“Huh.”

  
The two boys looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  
“Oh my gods. There is no way that Chiron didn’t know that,” Will grinned.

  
“Obviously.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remembered after I wrote this that there aren’t any female cyclops. Oh well


	8. Chapter 8

After they did their homework, Nico made dinner. Will was doing the dishes while Nico read on the couch, when a loud voice caused him to drop his book.

  
“Hey, Nico!”

  
Cursing, Nico turned to the Iris message that was right next to his face.

  
“Gods, Percy, you scared me!”

  
“Whoops,” Percy looked sheepish.

  
“Hang on, what’s that? Oh my gods. Please tell me that car is not on fire.”

The car was very obviously on fire.

  
“Well...maybe?” Percy rubbed the back of his neck.

  
Nico pinched the bridge of his nose.

  
“Let me guess. The person out cold on the ground is Jason?”

  
“Yep.”

  
Nico sighed. “You going to tell me what happened?”

  
“Okay, so we were driving out to visit my mom, right? Well, we were passing these woods and a deer jumped out. Jason swerved so he wouldn’t hit it, but he hit a tree instead. We’d been driving for a long time and I told him I was seeing smoke, but he ignored me and kept going. So after we hit the tree we got out of the car, but just then, BOOM! The engine blew up! A piece of metal flew out and hit Jason in the head, so now he’s unconscious and can’t fly us anywhere. Besides, he probably couldn’t carry the two of us anyways.”

  
“Wait, the two of you? You mean-”

  
“Hey, is that my main man, the son of death?”

  
“Never say that again. Ever. Hi, Leo.”

  
“What’s up, man? Hey, did you ask if he could come pick us up?”

  
“Not yet!”

  
Nico sighed yet again, hanging his head.

  
“Where are you?” He asked resignedly, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

You’d think he was the adult in this situation.

  
“You’re the best, man!” Percy grinned. Then he looked around. “We’re somewhere in Ohio, I think.”

  
Nico groaned in exasperation.

  
“Oh, yeah! There’s a sign. We’re just outside of Youngstown!” Leo yelled.

  
“You have got to be kidding me. Youngstown?”

  
Jason started to move on the ground.

“What happened?”

  
“Is that Percy?” Will called, coming closer. “What’s up?”

  
“I have to go pick up a bunch of idiots, that’s what. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Nico directed that last part to the Iris message, then cut the connection. He put his head in his hands.

“I hate my friends.”

  
“Everything alright there? I thought I saw a car on fire.”

Will patted his back, but Nico could hear the amusement in his voice.

  
“They had an accident and are now on the side of the road in one of the shadiest parts of Ohio and I have to go pick them up.” He stood up. “I’ll be back in a few.”

  
“Have fun!” Will snorted.

  
“Shut up.” And with that, he stepped into the shadows.

  
He emerged and was immediately met by yelling.

  
“It’s getting worse!”

  
“Leo, do something!”

  
“I’m trying! I’m tired!”

  
“All of you, shut up!” Nico yelled. The other three demigods jumped and whipped around.

  
“Thank the gods,” Jason said, then yelped as a spark hit him. “LEO!”

  
“Relax, I’ve got it.”

Nico snapped his fingers, and a bunch of skeletons popped out.

“Make sure this gets put out, without spreading the fire. Then get rid of the car, please.”

  
The skeletons chattered their agreement, then went to work.

“You three, here, now.”

Nico grabbed their arms and soon they were stepping into his apartment.

  
Leo shuddered as he let go. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

  
Nico rolled his eyes. “Alright. Who’s hurt?”

  
Jason opened his mouth.

  
“Besides the guy with the big gash on his head.”

  
“Hey!” Jason whined.

  
“Just a few cuts. But what happened to you? You look horrible.” Percy said.

  
“Gee, thanks.”

  
“Two cyclops’ in Central Park yesterday.” Will stepped into the room with the first aid kit.

  
“Hey, Will!” Leo sat on the couch. “I hate cyclops’. Besides Tyson, obviously. Nice place!”

  
“Thanks. You guys hungry?” Will offered.  
“Starving!”

  
Nico and Will heated up some leftovers, then they sat on the couch and caught up. Despite his annoyance, Nico loved his friends. Even when they decided to crash there for the night because it was getting late and Sally was away until Wednesday anyways.

  
The next morning, they left for school, taking care to feed them and make sure that there was nothing breakable in reach before turning on the TV to keep the boys occupied.

  
As the elevator closed behind him, Nico let out a sigh. “I swear, it’s like taking care of toddlers.”

  
Will snickered. “You’re right. Ugh, I’m exhausted.”

  
They had been woken up multiple times by one of the others getting up for water or to use the bathroom.

They had heard Percy IM Annabeth for an hour, which somehow resulted in a flood in Nico’s kitchen.

Leo had jumped on Will’s bed, asking where the snacks were hidden. When Will told him, Leo got excited, which ended with Will’s hair smoking and half of his comforter charred.

Jason had sleepwalked into Nico’s room thinking it was a bathroom, which ended with Jason getting startled and bringing a storm into the apartment.

This all came to a head at about three in the morning, when all three boys ended up awake at the same time and unable to fall asleep, resulting in a very loud argument over the remote.

Will and Nico had stormed in at the exact same time, locked eyes for two seconds and came to a silent agreement.

Will let out a shrill whistle that made them stop arguing and clutch their ears. Nico snapped his fingers, and from the shadows stepped six skeletons. The skeletons surrounded the three boys, who had frozen.

  
“That is enough. You guys are all in college. We, however, are still in high school, and we have double physics first thing. You’re supposed to be the adults here. I know you’ve been stuck in a car for the past day and a half, but you need to go to sleep. I don’t mind that you’re here, in fact, I enjoy your company, but we had a really long day, and Nico has already used his powers enough this week, and it’s only Monday. If he has to keep these skeletons here for the next three and a half hours, it’s going to be your fault that he sleeps through the alarm.

“Do you know what happens when he sleeps through his alarm? I have to wake him up. When I wake him up, he chases me around the apartments until we’re nearly late for school. Let me tell you, it is not fun to trip into the coffee table with a sprained ankle and a broken rib. Instead of me, however, tomorrow I will send the three of you in there. Which means it won’t be just Nico chasing you, it will be Nico chasing you with a sword and a skeleton. I don’t think any of you want that, so you now have two options. The first includes me whistling until you all fall unconscious, which is not fun for me either, or you can all grow up, shut up, and Go. To. _Sleep_.”

Will glared at the three frozen demigods, completely unfazed by the skeletons in his living room.

  
When Will is angry, which isn’t often, it can get scary. Unsurprisingly, they had chosen the latter option, and Nico had sent the skeletons away.

Back in the elevator, Nico nodded. “Yeah, me too. But you were awesome last night. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that afraid of you.”

  
“Then you’ve clearly never seen yourself when I’ve yelled at you.”

  
“Hey!”

* * *

They managed to make it to Greek without falling asleep. They said hello to Mr. Harbor, who had decided they would watch a movie because he didn’t feel like teaching.

Halfway through the period, Nico was starting to doze when he looked out the window. He jumped out of his skin and turned to hit Will. Will took one look and sighed.

In plain view, three demigods stood by the garden outside of the Greek classroom. Luckily, the rest of the class was too preoccupied with the movie to look outside. Both of them stood and walked up to Mr. Harbor.

  
“Sir, we’re sorry, but I don’t know if you saw them-”

  
“You know them?”

  
Nico sighed. “Unfortunately. Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, and Percy Jackson. They had car trouble yesterday so they’re staying with us for a few days. Apparently, they got bored and followed us to school.”

  
“Then by all means, go ahead.”

They grabbed their bags, whispered an excuse to the twins, and bolted outside.

  
“What in Olympus are you doing here?” Nico called.

  
“We got bored.” Jason shrugged.

  
“Hold on. You got bored...so you came to our school and stood outside of our classroom?”

  
Leo nodded.

  
“How...how did you even know what class we were in?” Will squinted at them.

  
“We just looked in every classroom until we found you.”

  
“You...you…” Nico closed his eyes and hung his head. “Alright. Okay. Come on.”

  
Nico and Will led them back to the apartments. As soon as the stepped inside, Nico marched straight to the IM’ing station they had set up. He threw in a coin.

  
“Nico, wait, please don’t!” Percy’s eyes widened when he realized who he was calling.

  
“Too late.”

  
“Nico? Will?” Annabeth answered the call immediately. Nico was in luck, Piper and Calypso were there too.

  
“Hey. Are you busy?”

  
“Not really. Why, what’s wrong?”

  
Nico and Will dragged the other three (who had tried to hide) into the picture.

“Your idiots followed us to school,” he announced.

  
“They did _what_?”

  
“We left for school, and during Greek, we looked out the window, and there they were, standing in the garden,” explained Will. “Apparently they looked in every window until they found us.”

  
“Well, did you turn the TV on?” Piper asked. 

  
“Yeah, and we showed them where the food and water was.”

  
“We’re right here, you know!”

  
“I resent this.”

  
“Are you kidding me?”

  
Percy, Jason, and Leo all spoke at the same time.

  
“Shut up!” The other five said in unison.

  
“We let you go on _one_ roadtrip, unsupervised, without even Hazel or Frank, just to go visit with Sally, and you get into an accident, call Nico and Will for help, proceed to keep them up all night, then make them ditch school?” Piper ticks off each incident on a finger.

  
At this point, Nico and Will walked away, to watch from Will’s kitchen.

  
“How did you know we woke them up?” Percy whined.

  
“Because we know you,” Calypso answered.

  
“Fine,” Leo grumped. “Hey, do you guys know how scary Will is when he’s angry?”

  
“No!” Annabeth said incredulously. “Because we’re smart enough not to make him angry! How in Hades’ name did you make Will angry?”

  
“We couldn’t sleep, so we tried to turn on the TV,” Jason started.

  
“Oh no,” Piper muttered.

  
“We just got into a tiny argument!” Leo protested.

  
“A tiny argument that had our neighbors downstairs hitting the ceiling,” Nico called.

  
“Oh my gods. Our boyfriends are children.” Calypso said to the other girls.

  
“ _Anyway_ ,” Percy continued. “We were arguing and they both came out of their rooms and Will whistled and Nico surrounded us with skeletons!”

  
“Oh, I get it. You woke him up and made Nico use his powers. No wonder he was mad.”

  
Nico and Will scoffed and shook their heads. They sat at the kitchen table as the girls continued to chew out their boyfriends.

  
“Hey, I forgot to apologize last night,” Nico said as he turned to Will.

  
Will raised an eyebrow. “Apologize?”

  
“Yeah. When you have to wake me up, I chase you. I forgot about your ankle yesterday morning.”

  
“Don’t worry about it. I was just trying to get them to go to sleep.”

  
“You sure?”

  
“Of course.” Will smiled softly at Nico.

  
Skeletal butterflies burst into his stomach. He thought they were gone. He thought he was in control of this. Great. He had noticed it more lately, too.

Whenever Will touched him-accidentally, on purpose, doesn’t matter- he broke out in goosebumps. He had been dangerously close to _blushing_ too many times for his liking. Nico didn’t understand.

He’d been crushing on Will for two years, and he had it under control by now. He could easily control his reactions. He was starting to think that it’s because Will had started being more affectionate, which is saying something. Will had been hugging him more, sitting closer when they sat together, and, this is when Nico thinks he’s imagining things, Will is just always closer than he used to be. When they sit, when they walk, when they jog, all the time. Nico doesn’t mind one bit, except for the fact that it’s affecting him so much.

He needs to get a grip, especially now that he’s zoned out and staring at Will, who seemed to be staring back. He shook himself.

  
“Sorry, I think I dropped off there.”

  
“Hm? Oh!” Will jolted slightly, and Nico saw him flush. “Yeah, I think we’re both just exhausted.”

  
Nico hummed an agreement.

All of a sudden he heard Piper:

  
“-You three are supposed to be adults! You’ve stopped the world from ending! Percy, you’ve done it twice! You’ve all killed monsters! And yet you can’t handle going on a roadtrip by yourselves.”

  
He saw the boys hang their heads.

“Alright, alright, we get it. We’ll do our best to be mature adults,” Percy said.

  
“Well, at least try to be nice to Nico and Will. And Sally and Paul, too.”

  
“Okay, okay, we’re sorry.”

  
They said their goodbyes, then proceeded to apologize to Nico and Will, who laughed it off. They had been punished enough. Soon, all five of them were in an intense video game competition. Will was the first out, followed by Leo, then Percy, and finally, Jason.

  
“YES!” Nico cried.

  
Just then, the intercom buzzed. “Must be the pizza. I’ve got it.” Will buzzed them up.

  
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. “Percy, can you grab that?”

  
“Anything for pizza!” Percy dashed to the door. They heard him open it, a few moments silence, and then, “It’s not pizza.”

  
“Who the hell are you?” A female voice asked. Ali.

  
Nico and Will scrambled up. “Hey, guys. Come on in.”

  
The girls hesitantly stepped inside. “We were coming over to make sure you guys were okay. You disappeared after Greek and didn’t come back, and you both looked exhausted all day. We thought maybe you were sick.”

  
“Oh, gods. We didn’t even think, sorry,” Will supplied. “We’re not sick. Our friends had car trouble yesterday, so they’re staying here and there was an emergency.”

  
“Everything okay?”

  
“Yep. Just a little misunderstanding. But Leo here is a fire hazard, so we figured we should stay and make sure nothing actually happened.”

The girls looked uncomfortable.

  
“Oh, sorry! Introductions. Uh, Ali, Natalie, this is Leo, Percy, and Jason. Guys, this is Ali and Natalie.”

  
Everyone said hi.

  
“We’ve heard so much about you,” Natalie said kindly.

  
Behind them, Jason raised an eyebrow, silently asking how much they’ve heard. Nico shook his head slightly.

  
“So, you two want to stay?”

  
“Unless we’re interrupting…” Ali looked unsure.

  
“No, not at all. I was just kicking their asses in a video game tournament.”

  
“Hey!” Jason yelled.

  
“It’s true, man.” Will patted his back consolingly.

  
Natalie smiled. “Well, I beat Nico all the time. I bet I can win.”

  
“Is that a challenge?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

  
“Hell yeah it is. Let’s go.” Natalie raced over to the gaming set.

Ali laughed and stayed behind with Nico.

  
“So, that’s the infamous Percy Jackson.”

  
“Shut up, Allison.”

  
“I’m just teasing. I know, I know, you’re over him.”

  
“Obviously.” Nico grabbed a root beer from the fridge.

  
“Besides,” Ali said as she poured some water. “Everyone knows…”

  
Nico raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

  
Ali smirked. “Will’s more your type.”

  
Nico spat out half of his drink, the other half having gone down the wrong pipe.

Ali laughed at him.

  
Nico’s eyes watered as he choked. “Not funny!”

  
“We all know it’s true, Nico. Stop denying it.” She patted his back lightly.

  
“What’s Nico denying?” Will said as he walked up.

  
Ali opened her mouth, but Nico cut her off.

“Nothing. Out already?”

  
Will snorted. “Yeah. Leo plays dirty.”

  
Nico shook his head at him. “No, you’re just horrible at the game.”

  
“Hey!” Will shoved Nico, who shoved him back.

Ali rolled her eyes and walked away.   
She sat next to the other four, sighing. Jason and Percy were out, and Nat was viciously playing Leo.

  
“Tell me you guys see it too. It’s not just us?”

  
Percy looked over from where he was cheering Leo on.

  
“What, those two?”

He nodded at the boys in the kitchen, who were currently engaged in some sort of poking contest only they understood. Will said something, then proceeded to chase Nico into the other apartment.

  
Ali nodded.

  
“Of course. They’ve been like that since the moment they met.” Leo paused the game.

  
“They are literally the only ones who can’t see that they’re in love,” Jason added.   
“Thank god. I was starting to think we were crazy.”

Natalie shook her head.

  
“Nope. You should see them at camp. We all have a bet going. It’s been going for the last two, nearly three years. Everyone adds a drach-a _dollar_ for every month.”

  
“I think they’re getting worse, though! Lately, they’ve been staring even more, they’ve been standing closer than ever, and frankly I’m shocked that neither have noticed,” Ali flopped back dramatically.

  
“You should have seen them last night. We woke them up, Nico did something Will didn’t like, because of us, and Will was so angry. It was really funny.”

  
“Funny? Leo, it was _scary_. I thought he was actually going to knock us out.”

  
The girls looked at each other. “Okay then. Oh my god,” Natalie said suddenly.

“So we stayed here on Christmas because our aunt was away, and we made them play truth or dare-”

  
Percy choked on air. “You got _Nico_ to play truth or dare? No way.”

  
“We have pictures to prove it,” Ali held up her phone.

The boys all grimaced slightly, but the girls didn’t notice.

“We’ll show you in a minute. But anyway, we were playing, and they both described their crushes, and you should’ve seen the looks the other got. They were jealous. And both of them were obviously describing each other.”

  
“Oh man, one time, this girl flirted with Will, and I thought Nico was going to kill her,” Jason laughed.

  
There was a lot of yelling and crashing from next door. They ignored it.

  
“Dude, did you not see the time when one of the new campers made a pass at Nico? Will almost chopped her arm off during Capture the Flag. And when he was supposed to give her stitches the next day, he made Kayla do it.”

Percy looked like he was going to burst.

  
“Your camp sounds very dangerous…” Nat looked around with a raised eyebrow.

  
The three boys snorted.

  
“Nah. It’s just...old fashioned.” Leo wrinkled his nose. “I’m hungry.”

  
“You’re always hungry, dummy.”

  
“Shut up, Sparkplug.”

  
“Leo, I swear if you call me that one more time...” Jason pulled a coin out of his pocket.

  
Leo gulped. “Alright, man. Sorry. Okay, so there was this one time we were playing capture the flag, and Nico and I were running through the woods, but Will slammed straight into Nico and they both fell, Will on top of Nico, and for a solid ten seconds I thought they were going to smooch. Then they remembered that Lou Ellen and I were there and we went back to the game. But it was so intense. I had nearly won the bet.”

  
“The amount of times they’ve nearly kissed could fill a book.”

  
“I’ve even seen that a few times. We went ice skating-yes, we have pictures,” she added as the boys perked up. “Anyway, Will started to fall, and Nico caught him. I swear, their faces were this close! I actually have pictures of that one.”

  
The boys cheered.

  
Suddenly, the buzzer rang.

  
“PIZZA!” Percy bellowed, then ran for the door.

  
“You idiot!”

  
The five guests looked at the door to the adjoining apartment, where a bleeding Will was walking through, followed by a bleeding Nico.

  
“If you think for one second that this is my fault, Solace, you’re crazy.” Nico paused, turning to Will.

  
They were hardly five inches between them.

  
“You tore your stitches!”

  
“So did you!”

  
“Shut up.”

  
“Make me.”

  
The other five slapped a hand over their mouths and held their breath as the two froze slightly, having realized their close proximity. Percy nearly dropped the three pizza boxes he was holding.

  
“I will, if you don’t let me redo your stitches,” Will said after a moment, slightly flustered.

  
“Fine,” Nico grumbled, looking away. “But then you have to let me redo yours.”

  
“Deal.”

  
“Add another to the list,” Ali whispered to Leo.

  
“Besides,” Nico muttered. “You were the one who knocked me over.”

  
“Because you stopped short while we were running!”

  
“We were only running because you were chasing me!’

  
“I was only chasing you because you flicked me!”

  
“I only flicked you because-”

  
“Enough flirting, you two. Pizza’s here,” Percy interrupted, grinning.

Nico and Will both turned red.

  
“We weren’t flirting,” they muttered at the same time, causing them to blush harder.

 

The rest simply laughed.

  
As they ate, they talked and laughed, mainly telling embarrassing stories.

  
“Speaking of embarrassment,” Ali started, smiling evilly. “I believe we promised to show you pictures.”

  
“Pictures?” Nico’s head shot up. “Pictures of what?”

  
“Oh, just you guys.”

  
Will narrowed his eyes. “Us? Us doing what?”

  
Natalie just smirked at them as their friends gathered around Ali’s phone.

  
“Oh my gods,” Leo snickered. “How did you get Nico to wear a Santa hat?”

  
Nico’s eyes widened comically.

  
“That wasn't us. That was all Will.”

  
They boys looked up to see Nico giving them his death glare. They flinched back. The girls, however, had no idea what he could do, so they ignored him.

  
They kept flipping through. There were pictures of them at the restaurant on Christmas Eve, making the snowman, and there was even one of Nico having snow shoved down his coat by Will. Then there were the pictures of Nico chasing Will, then both of them squishing onto the couch.

  
“Ooh, here’s a good one.”

Ali held up the phone to show a selfie with Will, Nico, and Natalie playing truth or dare in the background.

“This is what we told you about.” She swiped through, and indeed, in quite a few pictures either Nico or Will looked very jealous.

  
The two of them only sighed.

  
“I hate you all,” Will said.

  
“Here are my favorites!” Natalie squealed.

  
Nico jumped up. “Nope! No, no one wants to see those!”

  
“We can speak for ourselves, Nico,” Jason smirks. “We definitely want to see them.”

  
At this point, both Nico and Will groaned and slumped in their seats. The ice skating pictures. The three boys roared with laughter.

  
“Oh my gods,” Jason said. “The girls would love these.”

  
“Shut up,” Nico muttered.

  
Soon, the twins had to head home.

  
“You sure you’ll be alright? It’s getting dark. We could walk you.”

  
Ali laughed. “We’ll be fine, Will. It’s only two blocks.”

  
“Alright. Be careful, though. Tell Dina we said hi.”

  
They waved them off, then sat back in the living room.

  
“I’m sure they’re fine, guys. They looked like they could take care of themselves.”

Percy ate yet another slice of pizza.

  
“Oh, they can. But they’ve just been hanging out with five demigods for the last three hours. And we were jumped by two cyclops’ in the middle of Central Park Sunday.”

  
Jason considered. “Still. They’ll be fine.”

  
“So, why’d they stay with you for Christmas?” Leo asked around a mouthful of pizza.

  
“Their mom died a while back, and they’re dad left before they were born. They live on their own but their mom’s best friend keeps tabs on them. She went on a cruise with her boyfriend, and we didn’t want them to be alone for Christmas.”

  
“Aw, you guys are sweet.” Nico threw a straw wrapper at Jason.

  
That night, they didn’t get woken up once. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really short chapter, mostly a filler

For breakfast, Nico and Will took the other three to Penny’s. The owner, the older woman who had greeted Nico the first time he went there, welcomed them warmly.

  
“Morning, boys. The usual?”

  
“Yes please, Mrs. Lister. And the same for these guys.”

  
“Of course, Nico dear.”

 

  
They sat in a booth.

  
“ ‘Nico dear’ ?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

  
“Shut up,” Nico muttered. “We come here at least twice a week.”

  
“What’d you order us, anyways?”

  
“Pancakes and coffee,” Will answered.

  
“Awesome, thanks!”

  
They made small talk until Mrs. Lister came over with their coffee.

  
“Thanks, ma’am.”

  
“Ma’am? Ooh, you’re friends are so polite, boys.”

  
Will smiled. “Mrs. Lister, this is Percy, Leo, and Jason.”

  
“Well, it’s nice to meet you boys. Oh,” she said as a bell rang. “I’ll go get your pancakes.”

  
As soon as the pancakes came, the boys scarfed them down.

  
“Bye, boys!” Mrs. Lister called as the left. They waved, and Nico smiled brightly at her.

  
When he turned back around, Percy was looking at him oddly.

  
“Can I help you?” Nico asked sarcastically.

  
“Nevermind.”

  
Nico snorted and walked ahead with Will.

  
“Everything okay, man?” Jason asked Percy.

  
“Yeah...just thinking.”

  
“Okay then.” Jason shrugged.

  
They walked quietly for a few more blocks, besides Nico and Will, who were quietly chatting.

  
Suddenly, Nico laughed at something Will said, which startled the other three.

  
“Sometimes I think we’re too protective of Nico,” Jason said to Percy.

  
“Yeah. But...he’s our little brother!”

  
“You guys do know he’s not actually your brother, right? Besides, he’s in good hands.”

  
“Shut up, Leo.”

  
“That’s all anyone ever says to me. ‘Shut up, Leo.’”

  
“Shut up, Leo!” The other four chorused.

They hadn’t realized that Nico and Will were listening.

  
Finally, they reached the school.

  
“I guess we’ll see you this summer?”

  
“Obviously. Thanks for letting us stay over, guys. And for picking us up, Nico.”

  
“Anytime. Except next time, please don’t set Will’s room on fire.” Nico grinned.

  
“Or flood Nico’s kitchen,” Will added.

  
“Or storm the apartments.”

  
The other three chuckled sheepishly.

“Sorry, sorry.”

  
“It’s fine. Say hi to Sally for us!” Nico said. The first bell rang, causing Will to grab Nico’s arm. Nico smiled, and the two of them waved goodbye as they ran in.  
Percy stared after them.

  
“Dude, what’s the matter with you?” Leo poked him.

  
“Nothing, it’s just...Nico’s back.”

  
Jason raised an eyebrow. “When did he leave?”

  
“No, I just mean, Nico’s back. You know, little Nico!” Percy looked between them excitedly.

  
They looked at him blankly.

  
“Didn’t you see? He’s smiling, laughing. You saw how excited he was over those pancakes at Penny’s? And in the pictures those girls showed us.”

  
The other two looked at him like _yeah, so?_

  
Percy huffed.

“Nico used to be a little nerdy kid who got excited about everything. He was never the same after Bianca died. But now...my point is, he’s happy again.”

  
Understanding dawned on their faces.

  
“Well, Will has that effect on him.”

  
Percy and Jason snorted, and the three of them walked away.

That evening, Will and Nico collapsed onto Nico’s couch.

  
“It’s so quiet. I love it.” Nico declared.

  
“Same. I need a nap.” Will laid back and threw an arm over his eyes.

  
“You need to finish your homework first.”

  
“Since when did you get so bossy?”

  
“I guess you’re just rubbing off on me.”

  
Will only laughed loudly.

Nico looked at him for a moment. He always tried so hard to ignore his stupid crush, and every day it got harder. It was the little things Will did, like smiling at Nico, or laughing at something he said, or how he he knew what Nico was feeling just by looking at him.

He realized he was staring, yet again. He groaned and put his head in his hands.

  
“Hey, you okay?” Nico felt a hand on his shoulder.

  
He sighed and sat up. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry. Homework?”

  
Will nodded, watching him carefully.   
While they did homework, Nico didn’t notice Will staring at him.

So he had no way of knowing that Will was thinking the same things as him. 


	10. Chapter 10

Friday after school, they were all set. They carried their packs downstairs and waited for the girls. It was only five minutes before the girls pulled up in an old RV.

  
“Who’s ready to go camping?” Ali yelled from behind the wheel.

Despite only technically having her permit, Ali had been taking driving courses and managed to get her license early.

  
Will and Nico slept through most of the drive, both having been up most of the night before. Nico had had a nightmare- a bad one. Once he had started breathing normally, he had slipped into the shadows and didn’t come back for hours. Will had stayed up waiting for him.

* * *

  
_Nico stepped into the room and jumped when he saw Will sitting at the table playing solitaire. Immediately, Will jumped up._

_  
“You okay, Nico?”_

_  
Nico nodded. “Have you been up this whole time?”_

_  
“Yeah,” Will said softly, walking up to Nico. “I was worried.”_

_  
“Sorry.” He looked at the floor guiltily. “You didn’t have to do that.”_

_  
“Don’t be sorry. Of course I had to. I’ll always wait for you, Nico.” Nico noticed Will’s ears turn red, but he didn’t know why. “You wanna talk, or do you want to be alone?”_

_  
“You can go to sleep. You’ve been up for ages.”_

_  
“That’s not what I asked, Death Boy.”_

_  
Nico looked up at Will, smiling slightly._

_“Okay. Can we just, I don’t know...stand here for a bit?”_

_  
Will smiled. “Sure.”_

_  
So they leaned against the counter without talking. Fifteen minutes of comfortable silence passed._

_  
“It was that Tartarus dream again,” started Nico. “The one that ends up with you...dying at the end.”_

_  
Will looks over at Nico, but stayed silent._

_  
“Gods, sometimes I really hate being a demigod. I always feel like I’m going to lose someone I care about. I’ve lost my mother and Bianca. Now in my nightmares, I see you and Hazel dying too. All of you, leaving me.” Nico shook his head and looked at the floor._

_  
“Nico, look at me.”_

_When Nico didn’t move, Will gently pulled his face up._

_“I’m right here. I swear to you, I’m not leaving you. You can’t get rid of me that easy.”_

_  
Nico thought for a second. “Will-” he started._

_  
“Yes?” Will answered quickly, his eyes searching Nico’s._

_  
Nico’s courage gave out, and he sighed. “Nothing. Nevermind. Just...thanks.”_

_  
“Anytime, Nico.”_

_  
For a moment, they stared at each other. Then Will leaned in and Nico’s heart leapt into his throat, but it was only a quick hug._

_Neither fell back asleep._

* * *

  
Now, Nico was lying on a bench seat in the RV thinking about how he almost told Will last night. Almost.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, by Ali coming to a sudden stop. He fell onto the floor with a very undignified yell.

Will, who had been on the opposite bench, fell on top of him. It took Will a moment to get situated, as he had still been asleep.

  
“Would you get off of me, Solace?” Nico grunted. 

  
“Oh, gods. Sorry, Death Boy.”

  
Will clambered up, then gave Nico a hand.

  
“Sorry, boys. Nearly missed our stop. But we’re here!”

  
Nico could barely see, besides what the street lamps gave light to.

  
“Well,” Natalie amended. “Nearly there. You boys up for a hike?”

  
“As long as you guys can keep up.” Nico grabbed his pack and hopped out, closely followed by Will.

  
“Oh, really?” Ali scoffed as she took the lead. “It’s about two miles in the dark.”

  
“That’s nothing,” Will said. “You should see what we have to do at camp.”

  
Nico snickered.

  
It took about an hour of walking led only by the light of the half-moon and flashlights and tripping in the dark before the reached a clearing, managed to set up tents, then went straight to sleep.

The girls did, anyway. Nico and Will were still awake due to them sleeping all day.

  
Once Nico thought Will was asleep, he snuck out of the tent with his sketchbook. He wandered down a trail until he found the lake Ali had told him about.

He sat on a dock and started sketching. Soon, however, he felt someone watching him, and he knew he had been wrong in assuming Will had been asleep.

  
“Enjoying the view, Solace?”

Nico heard Will laugh softly as he came to sit next to Nico, brushing their shoulders.

  
“Yeah. It’s pretty nice.” Absorbed in his drawing, Nico didn’t see Will looking at him.

  
Finally, he sighed and put down the sketchbook.

  
“You feel it too, don’t you?”

  
Will huffed. “Yeah. I tried ignoring it but...something’s just...off. I feel like something bad’s going to happen.”

  
“Exactly. Ugh, I hate having these instincts.”

  
“Yeah, but at least we can be prepared.”

  
“I guess.”

  
“Until then,” Will said, laying flat on his back. “All we can do is enjoy the peace while it lasts.”

  
Nico laid down directly next to Will.

  
“Look, it’s your aunt!” Nico pointed at the Moon.

  
Will laughed. “If you look really hard, you can _just_ make out the stags, see?”

  
Nico did as he said, and he was surprised to see he actually could.

  
The next thing they knew, they were being woken up by shouting.

  
“There you are, you idiots!”

  
They bolted up-well, they tried to. They had become tangled while they slept, and this caused them to stumble around in confusion. Nico happened to stumble right to the edge of the dock. He fell into the cold water with a yell.

  
The water was so cold it shocked him for a moment, then he struggled to the surface. As soon as his face broke, he fell back under.

He tried again, with the same result. Despite his efforts he started to sink, weighed down by his clothes. He starting flailing even more, which didn’t help.

Nico started to panic- he had no control over the situation, and that was not a feeling any demigod liked to have.

Suddenly, something was wrapping around him and his head was breaking the surface and he could breathe. The first thing he registered was giggling-the girls.

They hadn’t noticed Nico’s struggle. The next thing he noticed was Will; he was behind Nico, arms wrapped around his chest, keeping him afloat.

Will managed to pull them both over to the dock, and he made Nico climb up first. Nico didn’t complain, flopping down and trying to cough up the water in his lungs. Will fell down next to him.

The girls had been too busy laughing to actually see their problem.

  
“You guys okay?” Nat giggled.

  
“Not...cool…” Will coughed to the girls.

  
“Can’t...swim,” Nico panted. “Not...fun.”

  
“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” Ali’s eyes widened in panic.

  
“You alright, Nico?” Will turned his head to him.

  
Nico nodded. “I’m fine. Thanks for the help. But what the hell were you yelling about, girls?”

  
“You weren’t in you tent and we were worried! We didn’t know where you were. We’ve spent the last half an hour looking for you, only to find you cuddling on a dock!”

  
“We weren’t cuddling!” They protested at the same time.

  
“Whatever. Come on, we’ll start a fire and you guys can dry off.”

  
That day, they went on a hike up the mountain. They went all the way to the highest ski slope, which was closed for the season. They had a picnic up there, enjoying the view, before heading back down. It was a surprisingly hot day for April, and Nico was sweating.

  
“You know,” he said to Will. “I can feel your dad laughing at me.”

  
Will stopped and looked towards the sun, shading his eyes. “Nah,” he decided. “He’s laughing at me. I was so tired that I didn’t give a sacrifice yesterday.”

  
Nico snorted. “Idiot. Now we’re all suffering.”

  
“Nope. Just us.”

  
Will was right. The girls were way ahead.

  
“I thought they were the mortals.” Nico grouched as they started forwards again.  
Will laughed at him.

  
That night, they sat around the campfire telling stories. This was something they loved to do, since Will and Nico were great at ‘making up stories.’ The boys simply told stories of their lives as Half-bloods, but the girls didn’t need to know that.

  
“And that’s why you never upset a hungry Roman Legion.” Will finished.

  
The girls clapped, but soon, all four of them were yawning. 


	11. Chapter 11

The next four days consisted of hiking, fishing, playing sports, and just relaxing. That Thursday, however, something was off. Nico was awake first, and he went outside to sit with Natalie. As soon as Will came out of the tent they locked eyes. They both knew-something bad was going to happen today. Despite this, they acted normal, not wanting to upset Ali and Nat.

  
Everything went wrong around four o’clock.

  
Nico and Will had gone to get firewood, and came back yelling and joking around like usual. When they reached the campsite, though, they were shushed by Ali.

  
“We’re on the phone. Aunt Dina said she could hear you guys from all the way over there. For the past five minutes.”

  
Nico felt the blood drain out of his face.

He heard a faint “ _Hello, boys_!” Come from Natalie’s cell phone, but he was too busy thinking.

  
“You don’t think…” Will looked at him.

  
“I don’t know.”

  
“But it’s not like they’re like us, right? They’ve been on the phone around us before.”

  
“Yeah, but we’ve always been so careful. Now, we’ve been broadcasting our location for the past five minutes, Will. Add that to the feeling we’ve had? This isn’t good.”

  
Will pinched the bridge of his nose. “So what do we do?”

  
“We…” Nico sighed. “I don’t know. We get our swords, I guess? Stay prepared?”

  
Will nodded. “Alright. And hey, we could be worried about nothing, right?”

  
Nico looked at him incredulously.

“William Solace. When, in the entire history of demigods, has anyone ever said that and something has not immediately gone wrong?”

  
“...We’re screwed.”

  
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, they heard a snuffling sound.

  
“Here we go,” Nico sighed grimly.

Before he even had time to reach for his sword, the monster came into view. It was directly behind the twins, who had finally hung up the phone.

  
“Hey, girls, we need you to listen to us _very_ carefully,” Will called quietly.

  
“Everything okay?” Ali looked at them curiously.

  
“Um...not really. Just slowly get up and walk towards us.”

The girls did as they asked.

  
“Is it a bear?” Nat whispered as she walked.

  
“Something like that.”

Nico risked a glance at Will. This was not going to be good.

  
“It’s alright. We’ve dealt with bears before. We just stand still and it’ll leave. No sudden movements.” Ali suggested.

  
“ _Definitely_ don’t make any sudden movements.”

  
Nico and Will saw the monster open its mouth.

  
“Don’t turn around!” They yelled at the exact same time.

  
“Don’t turn around!” The monster spoke, mimicking them.

  
Jumping, the girls spun around. They screamed as their eyes settled on the ‘bear.’

  
The ‘bear’ turned out to be a monster with the body of a stag, a lion's neck, cloven hooves, and a wide mouth with a sharp, bony ridge in place of teeth.

  
“Girls, get behind us. Now!” Will yelled.

The girls ran to them.

  
“What the hell is that thing?” Ali cried.

  
“It’s a Crocotta,” Will said quietly.

  
“A whatta?” Natalie squeaked.

  
“Not important. Hand us our packs.”

Another Crocotta joined the first.

  
“What?”

  
“Just do it, Ali!”

  
As soon as they had there packs, they yanked out their swords. The girls screamed again.

  
“Are those swords?!”

  
“For Hades’ sake, yes. Now I need you two to hold it together, please. This is going to get really confusing, and I’m sorry.”

Nico gently pushed the girls back.

“Stay here.”

  
“What? What are you going to do?”

  
Nico and Will ignored the girls and charged. The crocottas charged as well.

  
They met in the middle. Immediately, Nico was knocked over.

  
“Nico!” He heard Will yell.

  
He staggered back up and saw Will stab the first monster straight through its skull. Monster dust exploded over them. The girls were screaming and it was hard to focus.

  
A few minutes more, and Nico was able to get a good stab in the crocotta’s back. His sword absorbed its essence.

  
He stood panting for a moment, then they turned to Ali and Natalie.

  
“Are you guys okay?”

  
The twins just looked at them in shock.

  
“Alright. Listen to me. We don’t have much time, I can hear others coming. I am so sorry. I swear, we’ll explain as soon as we’re safe.”

  
“Tell us what’s going on!”

  
“We don’t have time!”

  
Just then, a cyclops came blundering in, causing the girls to scream again.

  
“What is that thing?”

  
“What in Hecate’s name is wrong with the Mist?”

  
“How should I know? Maybe they’re like Rachel or Sally?”

  
“Maybe!” Will shouted as he ducked under the cyclops’ hand.

  
“Stop moving! I’m hungry!” The cyclops roared.

  
“Get down!” Will shouted.

  
Nico ducked and Will used him as a stepping stool to jump higher. He stabbed the cyclops in its eye. It roared in pain, nearly stepping on Nico.

  
Nico saw all of Will’s training from Camp Jupiter come alive. He stabbed precisely at all crucial organs, slicing at arteries, finally ending with the Achilles Tendons. It was terrifying, but Nico was in awe.  
Soon, the cyclops was gone.

  
Nico barely had time to tell Will how awesome that was when they heard wings flapping above them.

  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  
Four griffins were circling above them.

  
“Girls, I’m really sorry about what I’m about to do.”

Nico looked at them pleadingly.

  
“What are you going to do?” Nat cried.

  
“You need to trust us, alright?”

  
“How can we trust you right now?”

  
“You guys are stabbing these...these things with swords!”

  
Will sighed. “Nico, just do it. We don’t have time to argue.”

  
“Okay. Okay. Girls, I swear on the Styx these won’t hurt you.”

  
“ _What_?” Ali cried in disbelief.

  
Nico snapped his fingers, and the ground erupted. Ten skeletons crawled out, and the girls shrieked.

  
“Protect them,” Nico commanded.

  
The skeletons saluted, then surrounded the girls.

  
Natalie collapsed, but she was still conscious. Ali sank down next to her, hyperventilating.

  
Twenty minutes later, the griffins were gone, along with two nasty harpies. Will had taken those down by letting out a whistle, which caused them to drop out of the air.

   
Battered and bleeding, Nico and Will started over to the shaking girls. Two of the skeletons had been destroyed by the harpies. Before they got too far, though, the ground shook.

  
“Oh, come _on_!” Will yelled, exasperated.

  
“Stay put,” Nico called to the girls. “It’s going to be fine.”

  
“It’s going to be fine?” Ali yelled shrilly. “It’s going to be _fine_?”

  
“Here we go.” Will looked to Nico. “Ready?”

  
“Always.”

  
The next monster came into view. It was by far the largest monster of the day, bigger than an elephant.

  
“Fates help us. Is that an…” Will muttered faintly.

  
“Odontotyrannos? Yeah. I don’t know, Will. I thought those things were extinct. Should I just shadow travel us out?”

  
“Backing out of a challenge, di Angelo?”

  
“Never, Solace. Let’s go.”

  
They stabbed, feinted, jabbed, and distracted the creature. They were doing...not well, but not horrible, either. At least, until Will was smashed backwards by a hoof. He landed on the ground and didn’t move.

  
“WILL!” Nico bellowed. “Alright, enough games,” he snarled.

  
The temperature dropped immediately, so much so that Nico’s breath crystallized in front of him. The ground began to shake. The grass steamed and withered around them. The day itself seemed to get darker.

Nico ran directly at the monster, but instead of stabbing it, he slid underneath and came up on the other side. He saw Will stand up and start to stumble over to him, but he didn’t stop. The monster turned to face him, and he plunged his sword into the ground. The ground split open, swallowing the Odontotyrannos.

Just as Nico was about to let the ground close, he saw Will stumble. The clumsy demigod tripped directly over the hole to Tartarus.

  
“NO!” Nico screamed, and his powers lashed out automatically.

  
He saw shadows reaching forward and surrounding Will, and then he was gone.

The temperature returned to normal.

The ground snapped shut.

The skeletons fell apart.

The girls were screaming.

Nico collapsed. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, and we’re coming to the end!

_Need to find Will. Can’t sleep yet_.

Nico struggled to remain conscious. He stood up and staggered over to the girls.

  
“Nico, what the _hell_?” Natalie said dazedly.

Both of them were shaking like leaves.

  
“Did Will fall into the hole?” He mumbled.

  
“What? Nico, please, we’re freaking out here.”

  
“Did Will fall into the hole? This is important!” Nico shouted this time.

  
“I don’t think so. The-the shadows, they swallowed him,” Natalie stuttered.

  
“Oh, thank the gods.”

  
“That’s good?” Ali looked at him incredulously.

  
“Well, the hole leads to Tartarus. I controlled the shadows. So yes, that’s good. Now, we need to find Will before any more monsters come. We need to move.”

  
Nico grabbed a gatorade and downed half of it. He dug out an ambrosia square from Will’s pack, ate it, then found the gum that tastes like tar and popped a piece in his mouth. Feeling slightly stronger, he started walking.

  
“Nico!” Natalie yelled. “Stop! Monsters? Tartarus? Shadows? Skeletons? What is happening?”

  
He turned around, exasperated. “Girls, look. I know that you have no clue what’s happening, but I really can’t explain until we find Will.”

  
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us something!” Ali crossed her arms.

  
Nico sighed. “Fine. What do you know about Greek mythology?”

  
“Greek mythol-  _what_? What does this have to do with anything?”

  
“Just answer the question, Ali.”

  
She sighed. “Um...Zeus? Olympus? I don’t know, Nico.”

  
“Okay, well, I’m going to tell you something, and you can’t freak out, okay?”

  
The girls nodded hesitantly.

  
“Okay. Will and I are demigods. Children of a god and a mortal. Now, Will could be in danger. Gods, I can’t think straight without him. We need to go, now.”

  
“Oh. Demigods. Okay,” Natalie breathed faintly. “I think I’m going crazy.”

  
“No, I’m seeing this too. Okay. Okay, I guess we’re going to find Will.”

  
“Good. I swear, you’re going to be just fine.”

  
“Stop saying that!” Ali yelled.

  
“Sorry. Let’s go.”

  
Five minutes later, they were walking through the woods.

  
“WILL!” Nico yelled. “Will!”

  
The girls copied him.

  
“Wait. Nico, If Will was eaten by shadows, how is he going to be here?”

  
“Look, I’ll explain if-when- we find him. Will!”

  
Ten more minutes of walking, and Nico’s panic was getting worse. What if he had fallen into Tartarus? Nico would somehow have to get him back, even if it meant going back to that horrible place.

  
“Will! Come on, Solace! Where are you?” Nico was really worried. “WILL!”

  
“Nico?”

  
“Will?”

  
“Nico!”

  
“Oh, thank the gods. Will!”

  
Just over the hill, Nico saw Will limping towards them.

  
“Nico!”

  
Nico sprinted towards him, ignoring his fatigue for awhile longer. He tackled Will in a hug.

  
“Thank Apollo you’re alright!” Will laughed in relief. 

  
“Me? Thank Apollo _you’re_ okay. I was starting to think I was going to have to take a trip to Tartarus,” Nico hugged Will tighter. “Gods, Will, I thought I sent you to Tartarus.”

  
Will buried his face in Nico’s neck.

“I’m fine. I told you, you can’t get rid of me that easy. But you’re about to collapse, Nico.”

  
“Nah.”

His knees buckled. “Okay, maybe a little.”

Will moved back, but only so he could sling an arm around Nico’s waist.

  
The girls were staring at them.

“Nico, we found Will. Now you said you’d explain!”

  
“Five more minutes, okay? We need to get out of here, or else Nico’s going to push himself too hard.”

  
“Oh my god. I’m about to lose it, guys. _Please_!”

  
“I’m sorry, we need to get to safety. Nico, do you have enough energy?”

  
Nico nodded. “Come on.”

  
“Guys, the RV is that way.”

  
“Listen to us, for the love of Zeus!” Nico yelled. He nearly fell out of Will’s grip.

  
The girls flinched back.

  
“Sorry. I’m sorry. But is that RV worth your lives?”

  
“No,” Ali said faintly.

  
“Good, because if we stay here any longer, we will most likely die. Now, both of you, grab my arm. This is not going to be fun.”

  
Tentatively, they did as they were told.

  
“Okay, hold on.” Nico reached for the shadows with his free arm.

  
Two heartbeats later, they were in his apartment. Ali and Natalie collapsed onto the floor, shaking, and Nico stumbled hard against Will.

  
“There we go, Death Boy. Easy.”

  
“I’m fine, Sunshine.”

  
“Like Hades you are. Sit.”

  
After Will had gotten them each an ambrosia square, then sat the girls on the couch, they explained. They didn’t say much about themselves, mostly just talked about what a Half-Blood was, about the gods, and about Camp. Then, they told them their theory.

  
“No. That’s not...we can’t be...no…”

  
“What do you know about your father?”

  
“Just what we told you. He left our mother before we were born.”

  
Nico and Will looked at each other. “Did your aunt know your father?”

  
Ali nodded. “Yeah.”

  
“Has she ever said anything about him?”  
Natalie sighed. “She once told me that he loved our mom very much. I asked his name but...oh my god, I can’t do this.”

  
Nat buried her face in her hands and Ali rubbed her back.

  
“Ali, you’re dyslexic, right? And Nat, you have ADHD?”

  
“We both have Dyslexia and ADHD. How is this relevant?”

  
“I think...I think you guys should talk to Dina.”

  
Ali pulled out her phone.

  
Nico and Will reacted at the same time.

  
“No!” They yelled, lunging for the phone.

It was knocked out of her hand and shattered on the floor.

  
“What the hell!” She yelled.

  
“Phones attract monsters. That’s how they found us in the first place.”

  
Ali looked like she was about ready to break down.

  
Ten minutes later, the girls were safely in a cab on their way to their aunt’s. 


	13. Chapter 13

“How’re you doing, Nico?” Will asked, coming in with the first aid kit.

  
They had sat at the kitchen table for twenty minutes before moving or talking at all.

  
“M’okay. Tired.” Nico mumbled.

  
“Shocking.”

  
“Shut up.”

  
“Your head is still bleeding.”

  
“So’s your arm.”

  
They patched each other up tiredly. Mainly scrapes and bruises, but neither had fully healed from the Central Park incident. Both their ribs were sore again, and Will had re-sprained his ankle.

  
“Dear gods. First our teacher, and now our friends. We just can’t get away, can we?” Will asked as he sank onto the couch.

  
“Nope.” Nico leaned against the counter, drinking more gatorade.

  
It was quiet, and then-

  
“Damn it!” Will burst out suddenly.

  
Nico jumped. “Will, what’s wrong?”

  
Will sprang up off the couch.

“What’s wrong? I hate being a demigod, that’s what’s wrong. Gods, I can’t deal with it anymore! I just want to be normal. I was five when I went to Camp for the first time. I’ve lived there full time since I was seven. I made that decision when I was too young to understand that being a demigod meant risking my life constantly. It meant worrying about my mother every day I’m with her, losing family and friends in wars I was signed up for simply because I was born!

“It means worrying that the person I care about is going to do something stupid and get himself killed every day. We’re sixteen, and the chances of us dying go up every day. How messed up is that? Gods, Nico. I could lose you any given day!”

He paused his yelling for a moment, and Nico cut in.

  
“Or I could lose you, Will! You could overextend yourself healing someone any damn day! When it’s your shift in the infirmary, you forget to eat if it’s too busy. You don’t take breaks, you don’t sleep. Yet you yell at me for not doing the same things. Yes, we are only sixteen. And yeah, being a demigod can suck. Risking your life, losing people, fighting other people’s battles, worrying about people you love, all starting before we knew any better. But it also means saving others. Gods, Will, you don’t know how often you’ve saved me.”

  
“I-” Will was in front of him now.

  
“No, you don’t. If you weren’t a demigod, I wouldn’t have met you. If I hadn’t met you, I’d be long dead. And not just because I’m a little careless with my powers. You’re the only person who really pulled me out of the dark place I was in, because you’re the only person who didn’t give a damn who my father was. You weren’t afraid of me, you didn’t put up with my moping. You’re the only person I couldn’t push away even when I was stupid enough to try! You’re the reason I stay at camp, the only person who made me stop wishing it was me instead of Bianca. Even though I sometimes really hate being a demigod, there are moments that make it worth it. But you’re right. Being what we are means a lot of worrying about people you care about. What do you think I see when I get bad nightmares? I see everyone I love die right in front of me while I can’t do anything.”

Nico paused. Did he just tell Will he loved him? He thought so. Oh well. He’s already off topic, why not go all out?

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m always worried about losing you, Will. When I thought you fell into that pit, my powers went out automatically. I didn’t even know I could do that. And if that hadn’t worked, I was ready to jump right in after you.” Nico took a breath.

  
Before he could go back in, he was frozen. By Will’s lips. On his. He made a surprised noise in the back of his throat, which Will seemed to take as protest.

  
“Sorry! I’m-”

  
“Finally, Solace,” Nico breathed.

  
Will’s eyes widened. Nico grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him back in, and then they were kissing. One of Will’s hands cupped Nico’s face and the other arm wrapped around his back. Nico’s free hand (the one that wasn’t clutching Will’s shirt) found its way into Will’s hair. Eventually, though, they remembered that they needed air.

  
“Wow,” Will breathed, leaning his forehead against Nico’s.

  
“Yeah.” Nico grinned. “Not that I’m not happy, because I’m really happy, but why’d you do that?”

  
“Because you said you were going to jump after me. Even if you were exaggerating, it meant a lot. You hate that place.”

  
“I wasn’t exaggerating at all. I swear on the Styx, if we hadn’t found you I was going to find some way to get you back, even if it meant splitting open the ground and jumping in.”

  
Will huffed out a laugh, and then he was kissing Nico again, pressing him back against the counter.

  
“In case you hadn’t heard my ramblings,” Nico panted when they pulled away again. “I’ve loved you for awhile now.”

  
“I can’t believe you never picked up on the fact that I’ve been in love with you for years, Nico.”

  
“And how would I have picked up on that?”

  
“Remember when we played truth or dare with the girls on Christmas?”

  
Nico nodded.

  
“And they asked about who our crushes were? I was talking about you. You were looking at me weird and I thought you had figured it out.”

  
Nico sniggered. “Pretty much the farthest thing from figuring it out. I was kinda...jealous.”

  
“You were? Oh my gods.”

  
“How did you not notice me describing you?” 

  
“Because I was too busy being jealous.”

  
Nico laughed in amazement. “Everyone always said...we really are clueless, aren’t we?”

  
“Yeah, we really are.”

  
“We both know that we can’t give them the satisfaction of knowing, right?”

  
“Obviously, Death Boy. They’d never let us forget it.”

  
Nico smiled. Then they were kissing again.

  
Eventually, they wound up eating dinner then watching TV.

Their ‘watching TV’ was mainly a lot of making out on the couch until they were too tired to do anything more than smile and hold hands.

They both fell asleep around the same time.


	14. Chapter 14

They were woken up by the buzzer. Will, whose head had been resting on Nico’s shoulder, jumped up. He managed to knock heads with Nico.

  
“Agh! Oh, man, that hurt. What time is it?” Nico asked, rubbing his head.

  
“Er...one in the afternoon.”

  
“Oh. Well, we had a long day yesterday. Who’s at the door?”

  
“I don’t know, I’m still sleeping.”

  
“Then make coffee. Who is it?” Nico yawned the last part into the intercom.

  
“Ali and Nat.”

  
The boys locked eyes. “Come on up.”

  
Nico sleepily padded over to Will and dropped his forehead onto his shoulder.

  
“Too early,” he muttered.

  
“Nico, it’s one in the afternoon.”

  
“And you kept me up last night, so I didn’t fall asleep until twelve-thirty in the morning.”

  
Will smirked. “That’s true.”

  
He handed Nico a cup of coffee, who greedily took it.

“Mmm, I love you.”

  
“I bet you say that to all the guys who give you coffee.”

  
“Only the cute ones.”

  
Will squinted at Nico. “Did the Ghost King just call me cute?”

  
“Shut up. I’m too tired to filter. I’m still sleeping.”

  
“That’s my excuse, Death Boy. Besides, you’re cute too.”

  
Nico turned red. Will laughed, but he set down his coffee and kissed him.

Just as Nico pulled him closer, there was a knock at the door. Both boys jumped.

  
“We’re not done with this conversation.” Will smoothed his hair.

  
Nico grinned, willing down his blush.

“Obviously. Now let them in.”

  
Their good moods fell, however, when they saw the girls. Their eyes were red and puffy, like they’d been crying, and they looked like they hadn’t gotten more than two hours sleep. Ali poured a mug of coffee. Not in all the time they’d known her, Nico and Will had never seen Ali drink coffee. She drank it black, too.

  
“Oh boy. I take it it didn’t go well?”

  
“Hephaestus.” Natalie said tiredly. “Our father is Hephaestus.”

  
“That’s great!” Will said.

  
The girls stared at him.

  
“I just mean, you know who he is. I know people who never found out.”

  
“Who’s your father, then?”

  
“Apollo.”

  
“Ha! Sun god. Might’ve guessed. How about you, Nico?”

  
“Hades.”

  
“Oh. Duh. Well, Dina knew. This whole time, she knew. And she didn’t tell us!”

  
“You’re really not going to like hearing this, but she was protecting you.” Nico held up a hand when Ali opened her mouth. “When a Half-Blood knows what they are, it puts them at even more risk. Did you talk to her about Camp?”

  
Ali nods. “She thinks it’s a good idea.”

  
“It really is. You’ll learn how to protect yourself in combat and enhance your abilities.”

  
“Abilities?”

  
“Yeah. For example, since Apollo is god of music, healing, and poetry, I’m really good at all things medical. I also know how to whistle at certain frequencies that can cause damage, and I can curse people to speak only in couplets for days on end. Sometimes, I’m even okay at archery.”

  
“I can control the shadows. What we did last night, that’s called shadow travel. When I get angry, the temperature drops. And I can control the dead.”

  
“They call him the Ghost King,” Will added.

   
“I don’t think that helps, Solace.”

  
This lead into them telling the girls about their experiences. Will told his life as a demigod, then Nico did the same. All of it.

  
“Wait,” Ali said slowly. “So, in the beginning of the year, when you told me that you were 86 years old and born in the forties…”

  
“I was completely serious.”

  
It was four o’clock by the time they were done. At least, they thought they were done.

  
“So, when we get to camp, we’re going to meet more children of Hephaestus?” Natalie asked.

  
Nico nodded. “Actually, you’ve already met one.”

  
Ali furrowed her brow. “We have?”

  
“Do you remember our friend Leo?” Will asked.

  
“Yeah-  _oooh.”_

  
They talked for a while longer, but the girls had promised Dina they’d have dinner with her.

  
Once they left, Nico rested his forehead on the door.

  
“I should probably make dinner,” he said as he heard Will stand up from the table. “We haven’t eaten much today.”

  
He turned around only to find Will directly in front of him.

“But we have a conversation to finish, di Angelo.”

He entwined their hands and backed Nico against the door.

  
Nico laughed softly, then leaned up.

  
“What about dinner?” Nico asked between kisses, still pinned against the door.

  
“Nico,” Will kissed him again. “I have waited for this for years. I think dinner can wait a little bit longer.”

  
Nico laughed breathlessly, then went right back to making out with his boyfriend. 


	15. Epilogue

Two months later, they were climbing out of Mr. Harbor’s car at the Camp Half Blood entrance.

  
“Thanks, Mr. Harbor!”

  
“Anytime, kids. And girls, don’t be nervous. Have fun!”

  
The four young demigods waved him off.

  
“Ready, girls?” Nico asked.

  
“Sure.”

  
“Why not?”

  
Nico and Will shared a smile, then they stepped past Thalia’s tree.

  
The girls were speechless as they led them to the Big House. They had IMed Chiron once the girls had come to terms with their parentage, so everything was set up. The boys gave the twins their tour, making introductions along the way. Just as they finished, they heard someone calling.

  
“Nico!”

  
Nico turned just in time to catch a very excited girl.

  
“Hazel!” He twirled her around, laughing. “Gods, I’ve missed you.”

  
“I missed you too! It’s been over a year. We need to meet in person more.”

  
“We will, I promise.” Nico set Hazel down and kissed her cheek.

  
That was when the rest reached them.

Greetings and hugs were exchanged between the Seven, Nico, Will, Calypso, and Reyna.

  
Leo saw the girls first. Nico saw his face blanche.

  
“Guys,” he stage-whispered. “Why are your mortal friends here?”

  
“Because,” Nico stage-whispered back. “They’re your new half-sisters.”

  
“Wait, you two are demigods?” Leo yelped.

  
The girls smiled and nodded.

  
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Jason asked.

  
“Because they didn’t know, dummy. Ali, Nat, this is my sister Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, Piper, Calypso, and Reyna. You know Jason, Percy, and Leo.”

  
Everyone exchanged pleasantries.

  
“So, Nico said you’re my new half-sisters?” Leo asked.

  
“Yeah, I guess so,” Nat smiled.

  
“Awesome!” Leo got a look on his face.

  
“Leo, don’t!” Ten people spoke at the same time.

  
“Too late!” Leo burst into flames.   
The girls shrank back a little, then laughed. “That’s so cool!”

  
They all settled in, then traded the stories of their past year.

Nico and Will managed to keep their secret for a whole week at camp. But the second Saturday after they got to camp was the first Capture the Flag of the year.

That meant getting up at five AM to get morning routines and chores done, eating at six, then starting at seven-thirty.

  
On weekends, they were allowed to sit wherever they liked in the dining hall, so Nico trudged over to his friends and collapsed between Will and Hazel.

  
“It’s too early for this,” he complained.

  
“Didn’t you get up around now for school anyway?” Jason snickered.

  
“Well, yes, but I’ve been up since five for chores. Besides, at least then I had coffee.”

Nico’s eyes were closing.

  
“Don’t worry, I’ve got your coffee,” Will mumbled tiredly as he slid a cup to Nico.

  
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Nico turned to him.

  
“At least once a day.” Will smirked sleepily, putting an arm around him.

  
Nico smiled tiredly and leaned in to kiss Will.

  
The two of them froze, realizing what they had just done. It had gotten so quiet you could hear the waves at the beach.

  
“Whoops,” Nico mumbled against Will’s lips.

  
All at once, the dining hall erupted.

Everyone was cheering and screaming and jumping. The boys buried their heads in each other’s shoulders, laughing in embarrassment.

  
So many questions were being fired at them they couldn’t keep up. They were surrounded by all of their friends, the rest of the camp not far behind.

  
“For the love of Hera, one at a time!” Will finally shouted.

  
Piper pushed her way to the front. “Since when?!”

  
“Uh...April?” Nico looked at Will, who nodded.

  
“AND YOU DIDN’T TELL US?!” Ali burst forward.

  
“Nope.”

  
“Why?!” Hazel, this time.

  
“Because we knew you’d all rub it in our faces.”

  
“Wait, you said April?”

  
The boys nodded at Percy.

  
“That was when we were at your house! Were you guys…”

  
“Nope.” 

  
Nico and Will were somewhat enjoying the frustration they were causing.

  
“We really need an exact date, guys.”

  
They turned to Annabeth.

“Why, were you betting on us or something?” Will wrinkled his nose.

  
Every single demigod nodded. The boys’ jaws dropped.

  
“Oh my gods.” Nico shook his head.

  
“What? You’re the longest awaited couple since Percy and Annabeth!” Grover called.

  
Now four demigods were blushing.

  
“Now, what was the date?” Frank pressed.

  
“Gods, I dunno. Hey, Nat, what was the day we left for camping?”

  
“Um...April 16th?”

  
Nico did some mental math. “Then...April 21st, I guess.”

  
Shouts went up about money.

  
“Wait, you mean to tell us that the day we were attacked by monsters, that was the day you two finally got your acts together?”

  
“...Maybe.”

  
“Okay, now we need to know,” Reyna cut in. “What prompted it to happen?”

  
Will groaned. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this embarrassed in my life.”

  
“Agreed.”

  
“Come on, boys. We have money on the line!” Leo yelled.

  
Will finally caved. He told them about the monster fight and the bare minimum of the yelling. More chaos ensued. More money was tossed.

  
Loud hoofbeats echoed through the pavilion.

  
“Alright, alright. Let’s give these poor boys some peace, shall we? It’s nearly time for the games to start!”

  
“Thanks, Chiron!” Nico called.

  
“You’re welcome. And,” He added, addressing the crowd. “I believe I had fifty drachmas on spring break, after a near death experience?”

  
The two demigods groaned and put their heads on the table as laughter flew through the hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done. Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays!


End file.
